Nyree
Meaning "radiant", a feminine given name of uncertain origin.
Name Census estimates that about 1,880 living Americans carry the first name Nyree. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 87.7% of registrations being female. The average person named Nyree today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nyree births was 1973 (157 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nyree. 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 Nyree with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.9K
~ 1 in 182,316 Americans
Peak year
1973
157 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,275
Tracked since 1970
Census
Nyree in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,542 people with the first name Nyree, which placed it at #9,143 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
#9,143
National first-name rank
People counted
1.5K
1,542 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
67.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nyree
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nyree is Black at 67.7%. The next largest groups are White (13.0%) and Hispanic (10.4%). 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 Nyree 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 Nyree at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American67.7% · 1,044
- White13.0% · 201
- Hispanic or Latino10.4% · 160
- Two or more races5.9% · 91
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.0% · 31
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 15
Gender
Gender distribution for Nyree
Nyree leans heavily female at 87.7% of total registrations, but 241 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Nyree as a male name
- Ranked #10,584 in 2024
- 7 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (18 births)
Nyree as a female name
- Ranked #8,275 in 2024
- 13 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1973 (157 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nyree leans strongly female. 1,395 people counted with this name were female (90.5%), compared with 147 male bearers (9.5%).
Popularity
Nyree: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nyree from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 598 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nyree 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 Nyree during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nyrees live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. New York, California, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Nyree, while Wisconsin, Florida, Kansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 40 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nyree
The name Nyree is a unique and intriguing name with an interesting history. It originated in ancient Egypt, and its roots can be traced back to the Egyptian word "nyr," which means "river" or "stream." This name was likely given to children born near the life-giving waters of the Nile River, which played a crucial role in the development of ancient Egyptian civilization.
Records show that the name Nyree was used as early as the Third Dynasty of ancient Egypt, around 2686-2613 BCE. During this time, the name was often associated with the goddess Isis, who was revered as the protector of the Nile and the bringer of fertility and abundance.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Nyree was a high priestess who served in the temple of Isis during the reign of Pharaoh Khafre (circa 2558-2532 BCE). She was renowned for her wisdom and her dedication to the worship of the goddess.
In the 6th century BCE, the name Nyree gained popularity among the Nubian people, who lived in what is now modern-day Sudan. The Nubians were heavily influenced by ancient Egyptian culture, and they adopted many of their customs, including the use of certain names.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Nyree. In the 12th century CE, Nyree al-Khayzuran was a renowned poet and scholar who lived in the Abbasid Caliphate. Her works were widely celebrated for their beauty and depth.
Another notable figure was Nyree ibn al-Haytham, a 10th-century Arab mathematician and physicist who made significant contributions to the field of optics. His work, "Book of Optics," was a groundbreaking treatise that influenced scholars for centuries.
In more recent times, Nyree Bellison (1937-2019) was a respected American author and historian who wrote extensively about the culture and history of ancient Egypt. Her books were widely acclaimed for their accuracy and attention to detail.
Nyree Zelenka (1920-2005) was a Czech-born artist and sculptor whose works were heavily influenced by ancient Egyptian art. Her sculptures, which often depicted figures from Egyptian mythology, were exhibited in galleries around the world.
These are just a few examples of the many individuals throughout history who have carried the name Nyree, a name that continues to be celebrated for its rich cultural heritage and connection to the ancient world.
People
Nyree + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nyree 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
Nyree: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nyree?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,880 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nyree 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 182,316 US residents.
Is Nyree a common name?
We classify Nyree as "Rare". It ranks above 93.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,967 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nyree most popular?
The single biggest year for Nyree was 1973, when 157 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nyree is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nyree in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,542 people with the name Nyree, or 0.51 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,143 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 Nyree 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 Nyree?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nyree leans strongly female. 1,395 people counted with this name were female (90.5%), compared with 147 male bearers (9.5%). 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 Nyree?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nyree is Black at 67.7%. The next largest groups are White (13.0%) and Hispanic (10.4%). 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 Nyree most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Nyree in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.7% (1,044 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 Nyree in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nyree a female name?
Yes, 87.7% of people registered as Nyree 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 Nyree still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nyree 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 Nyree 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 Nyree?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Nyree, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.