Nylee
A name of uncertain meaning, sometimes associated with nature or beauty.
Name Census estimates that about 267 living Americans carry the first name Nylee. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Nylee today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nylee births was 2014 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nylee. 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.
People living today
267
~ 1 in 1,283,724 Americans
Peak year
2014
26 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,729
Tracked since 2007
Popularity
Nylee: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nylee from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 155 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Nylee remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nylee 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 Nylee during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nylees live
Origin
Meaning and history of Nylee
The name Nylee is a relatively modern creation, with its origins rooted in the late 20th century. It is believed to be a creative variant or combination of the names Nyla and Lee. The name Nyla itself is derived from the Arabic word "nayl," meaning "attainment" or "achievement," while Lee is a common English surname that can also be used as a given name.
While the name Nylee does not have a deep historical lineage or cultural significance, it has gained popularity in recent decades as a unique and melodic name choice for baby girls. The earliest recorded instances of the name Nylee can be traced back to the late 1990s and early 2000s in various English-speaking countries, particularly in the United States and United Kingdom.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Nylee was Nylee Luchetti, an American child actress born in 2005. She gained recognition for her role in the 2012 film "Parental Guidance" alongside Billy Crystal and Bette Midler. Another early bearer of the name was Nylee Guzman, a track and field athlete from the Philippines who competed in the 2006 Asian Games.
In the realm of literature, Nylee Candace is a character in the young adult novel series "The Nightworld" by L.J. Smith, published in the late 1990s. This fictional character may have helped popularize the name among readers and young parents.
While the name Nylee has gained some traction in recent years, it is still relatively rare and has not been widely adopted across different cultures or regions. As a modern name, it does not have a rich historical background or significant cultural references, but rather represents a creative and unique choice for parents seeking a distinctive name for their child.
It is worth noting that the name Nylee can be pronounced in various ways, with some emphasizing the first syllable (NYE-lee) and others placing more emphasis on the second syllable (nye-LEE). This variation in pronunciation further contributes to the name's unique and personalized nature.
People
Nylee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nylee 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
Nylee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nylee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 267 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nylee 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 1,283,724 US residents.
Is Nylee a common name?
We classify Nylee as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 269 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nylee most popular?
The single biggest year for Nylee was 2014, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nylee is about 10 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 Nylee in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nylee a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nylee 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 Nylee still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nylee 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 Nylee 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 Nylee?
Want to know how many people share the name Nylee? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.