Nusaybah
A feminine Arabic name meaning "little gazelle" or "soft gazelle".
Name Census estimates that about 410 living Americans carry the first name Nusaybah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Nusaybah today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nusaybah births was 2023 (57 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nusaybah. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Nusaybah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
410
~ 1 in 835,986 Americans
Peak year
2023
57 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,034
Tracked since 1999
Popularity
Nusaybah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nusaybah from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 195 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nusaybah by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Nusaybah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nusaybahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. New York, Illinois, Texas recorded the most babies named Nusaybah, while California, Pennsylvania, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 16 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nusaybah
The name Nusaybah has its origins in the Arabic language and culture. It is derived from the Arabic word "nusayb," which means "little lioness" or "young lioness." This name likely emerged during the early days of Islam, around the 7th century AD.
Nusaybah is closely associated with Nusaybah bint Ka'b, a prominent woman in Islamic history. She was a companion of the Prophet Muhammad and is known for her bravery in the Battle of Uhud in 625 AD, where she defended the Prophet and fought alongside the Muslim army. Nusaybah bint Ka'b is considered one of the first female warriors in Islamic history.
Another notable figure with the name Nusaybah was Nusaybah bint Abi'l-Hasan al-Mas'udiyyah, a 10th-century scholar and writer from Baghdad. She was renowned for her expertise in Arabic grammar, poetry, and literature. Nusaybah al-Mas'udiyyah was also known for her poetic skill and contributed to the literary culture of her time.
In the 12th century, Nusaybah bint al-Hajj al-Ramliyyah was a prominent Sufi mystic and poet from Damascus. She was known for her spiritual teachings and her poetic works, which often explored themes of divine love and mysticism.
During the 13th century, Nusaybah bint Isma'il al-Baghdadiyyah was a renowned scholar and teacher in Baghdad. She taught various subjects, including hadith (prophetic traditions), fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), and Arabic literature.
Another notable figure was Nusaybah bint Kamal al-Din al-Dimashqiyyah, who lived in the 15th century. She was a poet and calligrapher from Damascus, highly skilled in the art of Arabic calligraphy and known for her elegant poetic works.
The name Nusaybah has a rich historical significance, particularly in the Islamic tradition, where it is associated with notable women who made significant contributions in various fields, including scholarship, literature, mysticism, and warfare.
People
Nusaybah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nusaybah as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with N
Other first names starting with N with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Nusaybah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nusaybah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 410 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nusaybah going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 835,986 US residents.
Is Nusaybah a common name?
We classify Nusaybah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 413 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nusaybah most popular?
The single biggest year for Nusaybah was 2023, when 57 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nusaybah is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Nusaybah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nusaybah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nusaybah in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Nusaybah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nusaybah in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Nusaybah can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people share the name Nusaybah?
Want to know how many people share the name Nusaybah? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.