Nyles
A variant of the masculine name Miles derived from Latin meaning "soldier" or "merciful".
Name Census estimates that about 864 living Americans carry the first name Nyles. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Nyles today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nyles births was 2021 (38 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nyles. 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 Nyles with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
864
~ 1 in 396,706 Americans
Peak year
2021
38 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,363
Tracked since 1929
Census
Nyles in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 705 people with the first name Nyles, which placed it at #16,105 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
#16,105
National first-name rank
People counted
705
705 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
48.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nyles
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nyles is Black at 48.4%. The next largest groups are White (33.3%) and Two or More Races (7.2%). 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 Nyles 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 Nyles at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American48.4% · 341
- White33.3% · 235
- Two or more races7.2% · 51
- Hispanic or Latino5.2% · 37
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.3% · 23
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.6% · 18
Popularity
Nyles: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nyles from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 241 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Nyles remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nyles 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 Nyles during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nyles' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Texas, New York, California recorded the most babies named Nyles, while California, New York, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 16 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nyles
The given name Nyles has its origins in the ancient Greek language and culture, with its roots traced back to the late classical period, around the 4th century BC. It is derived from the Greek word "neilos," which means "dark blue" or "indigo," possibly referring to the deep blue color of the river Nile in Egypt.
Nyles was a relatively uncommon name in ancient Greece, but it gained some prominence in the Byzantine Empire, particularly among the aristocracy and scholarly circles. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Nyles can be found in a Greek manuscript from the 9th century AD, where it was used as a given name for a renowned scholar and philosopher.
In the medieval period, the name Nyles appeared sporadically in various regions of Europe, often associated with individuals of Greek or Byzantine descent. It was particularly popular in areas with strong ties to the Eastern Orthodox Church, such as parts of Italy, Greece, and the Balkans.
One notable historical figure bearing the name Nyles was a Byzantine monk and author who lived in the 11th century. He is credited with writing several religious texts and commentaries that influenced the intellectual and spiritual discourse of his time.
During the Renaissance, the name Nyles experienced a brief resurgence among humanist scholars and intellectuals who were fascinated by the classical Greek and Roman civilizations. A prominent example is Nyles Filelfo, an Italian Renaissance humanist and scholar who lived from 1398 to 1481 and was known for his work on Greek literature and philosophy.
In the 18th century, a notable figure named Nyles Berger (1726-1798) gained recognition as a French naturalist and explorer. He conducted extensive research on the flora and fauna of the Caribbean islands and contributed significantly to the field of natural history.
Another individual of historical significance was Nyles Gundersen (1892-1965), a Norwegian-American architect and artist known for his innovative designs and contributions to the Prairie School of architecture. His works can be found in various cities across the United States.
While the name Nyles has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, it has been carried by individuals from diverse backgrounds and cultures, each leaving their mark in various fields, from philosophy and literature to natural sciences and architecture.
People
Nyles + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nyles 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
Nyles: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nyles?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 864 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nyles 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 396,706 US residents.
Is Nyles a common name?
We classify Nyles as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 910 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nyles most popular?
The single biggest year for Nyles was 2021, when 38 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nyles is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nyles in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 705 people with the name Nyles, or 0.23 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,105 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 Nyles 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 Nyles?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nyles leans strongly male. 692 people counted with this name were male (98.7%), compared with 9 female bearers (1.3%). 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 Nyles?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nyles is Black at 48.4%. The next largest groups are White (33.3%) and Two or More Races (7.2%). 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 Nyles most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Nyles in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.4% (341 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 Nyles in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nyles a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nyles 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 Nyles still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nyles 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 Nyles 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 share the name Nyles?
Want to know how many Americans are named Nyles? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.