Nylia
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly a variant of Nylah or Nylee.
Name Census estimates that about 296 living Americans carry the first name Nylia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Nylia today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nylia births was 2011 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nylia. 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
296
~ 1 in 1,157,954 Americans
Peak year
2011
20 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,067
Tracked since 1996
Census
Nylia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 260 people with the first name Nylia, which placed it at #32,383 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
#32,383
National first-name rank
People counted
260
260 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
58.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nylia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nylia is Black at 58.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (20.4%) and White (11.2%). 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 Nylia 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 Nylia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American58.8% · 153
- Hispanic or Latino20.4% · 53
- White11.2% · 29
- Two or more races6.9% · 18
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.3% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 1
Popularity
Nylia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nylia from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 130 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Nylia remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nylia 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 Nylia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nylias live
Origin
Meaning and history of Nylia
The name Nylia is a relatively modern invention, likely derived from the French name Nelly or the English name Nyla. Its origins are uncertain, but it may have been created as a combination of these two names or as a variation on the name Lily.
While the name Nylia itself does not have a recorded history dating back centuries, it shares similarities with other names that have been in use for longer periods of time. The name Nelly, for instance, is a diminutive form of the name Eleanor, which has its roots in the Provençal language and can be traced back to the 12th century.
Nylia does not appear to have any direct historical references in ancient texts, religious scriptures, or historical records. However, some of the earliest recorded examples of the name Nylia can be found in birth records from the late 20th century.
As for famous individuals with the name Nylia, there are a few notable mentions. Nylia Velazquez (born 1978) is a Puerto Rican model and actress who has appeared in several television shows and films. Nylia Allen (born 1995) is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the Dallas Wings in the WNBA.
Another individual named Nylia is Nylia Padilla-Rodriguez (born 1985), a Puerto Rican lawyer and politician who served as the Secretary of State of Puerto Rico from 2017 to 2019. Nylia Mukhtar (born 1990) is a British actress and writer known for her work in theatre and television.
Finally, Nylia Aikhuawe (born 1988) is a Nigerian-British fashion designer and entrepreneur who founded the clothing brand Nylia Couture in 2012.
While the name Nylia may be relatively new, it has gained popularity in recent decades, particularly in parts of Europe, North America, and Africa. Its unique sound and spelling have attracted parents looking for a distinctive name for their children.
People
Nylia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nylia 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
Nylia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nylia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 296 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nylia 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 1,157,954 US residents.
Is Nylia a common name?
We classify Nylia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 299 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nylia most popular?
The single biggest year for Nylia was 2011, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nylia is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nylia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 260 people with the name Nylia, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #32,383 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 Nylia 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 Nylia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nylia appears almost entirely female. Of the 258 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Nylia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nylia is Black at 58.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (20.4%) and White (11.2%). 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 Nylia most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Nylia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.8% (153 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 Nylia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nylia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nylia 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 Nylia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nylia 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 Nylia 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 are called Nylia?
You can see how many Americans are named Nylia on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.