Nyal
A masculine name of Aboriginal origin meaning "to sit down".
Name Census estimates that about 49 living Americans carry the first name Nyal. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Nyal today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nyal births was 1920 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nyal. 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 Nyal with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Nyal. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
49
~ 1 in 6,994,986 Americans
Peak year
1920
8 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,630
Tracked since 1916
Census
Nyal in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 165 people with the first name Nyal, which placed it at #43,061 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#43,061
National first-name rank
People counted
165
165 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
61.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nyal
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nyal is White at 61.2%. The next largest groups are Black (17.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (9.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Nyal described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Nyal at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White61.2% · 101
- Black or African American17.0% · 28
- Asian and Pacific Islander9.7% · 16
- Hispanic or Latino7.9% · 13
- Two or more races4.2% · 7
Popularity
Nyal: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nyal from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 28 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1940s peak, Nyal remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nyal 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 Nyal during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nyal
The given name Nyal finds its origins in the ancient Sumerian language, one of the earliest known written languages dating back to the 4th millennium BCE. It is believed to be derived from the Sumerian word "nyal," which translates to "strong" or "courageous." The name was prevalent among the Sumerian people, who inhabited the region of southern Mesopotamia, now modern-day Iraq.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Nyal can be found in the Sumerian cuneiform inscriptions from the city of Uruk, dating back to around 2800 BCE. These inscriptions often listed the names of individuals, including rulers, priests, and other prominent figures of the time. The name Nyal appeared multiple times, indicating its popularity among the Sumerian population.
As the Sumerian culture and language influenced neighboring civilizations, the name Nyal spread to other regions of the ancient Near East. In the 2nd millennium BCE, it appeared in the records of the Akkadian Empire, which covered parts of modern-day Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. The Akkadian texts often mentioned individuals with the name Nyal, suggesting its continued use among various ethnic groups in the region.
One notable historical figure bearing the name Nyal was a Sumerian scribe who lived around 2500 BCE. Known for his exceptional skill in cuneiform writing, he served as a court scribe during the reign of the famous King Shulgi of the Third Dynasty of Ur. His name was inscribed on numerous clay tablets and administrative documents, cementing his place in the historical records of ancient Sumer.
Another prominent figure named Nyal was a high-ranking official in the court of the Akkadian king Sargon the Great, who ruled around 2300 BCE. According to the inscriptions found in the ruins of the ancient city of Akkad, Nyal held a prestigious position and was entrusted with important administrative duties within the Akkadian Empire.
In the 1st millennium BCE, the name Nyal appeared in the records of the Babylonian Empire, which succeeded the earlier Sumerian and Akkadian civilizations. A notable individual bearing this name was a Babylonian astronomer and mathematician who lived during the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar II (604-562 BCE). His contributions to the study of celestial bodies and the development of mathematical theories were highly regarded in his time.
As the name Nyal spread across the ancient Near East, it also found its way into the Biblical texts. In the Book of Nehemiah, a figure named Nyal is mentioned as one of the builders who participated in the reconstruction of the walls of Jerusalem in the 5th century BCE, after the return of the Israelites from the Babylonian exile.
Throughout history, the name Nyal has been carried by various individuals, although its popularity has waned in modern times. It remains a testament to the enduring legacy of the ancient Sumerian culture and the influence it had on the naming traditions of the ancient Near East.
People
Nyal + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nyal 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
Nyal: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nyal?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 49 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nyal 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 6,994,986 US residents.
Is Nyal a common name?
We classify Nyal as "Very Rare". It ranks above 54% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 119 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nyal most popular?
The single biggest year for Nyal was 1920, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nyal is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nyal in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 165 people with the name Nyal, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #43,061 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Nyal in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Nyal?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nyal leans strongly male. 152 people counted with this name were male (93.8%), compared with 10 female bearers (6.2%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Nyal?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nyal is White at 61.2%. The next largest groups are Black (17.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (9.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Nyal most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Nyal in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.2% (101 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
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 Nyal in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nyal a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nyal in the SSA data are male. 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 Nyal still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nyal 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 Nyal 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.
How many people have the name Nyal?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.