Nachelle
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "my rest".
Name Census estimates that about 426 living Americans carry the first name Nachelle. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Nachelle today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nachelle births was 1992 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nachelle. 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
426
~ 1 in 804,588 Americans
Peak year
1992
22 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2012 SSA rank
#16,279
Tracked since 1967
Census
Nachelle in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 404 people with the first name Nachelle, which placed it at #24,004 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
#24,004
National first-name rank
People counted
404
404 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
56.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nachelle
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nachelle is Black at 56.4%. The next largest groups are White (26.5%) and Two or More Races (8.2%). 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 Nachelle 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 Nachelle at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American56.4% · 228
- White26.5% · 107
- Two or more races8.2% · 33
- Hispanic or Latino6.2% · 25
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 5
Popularity
Nachelle: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nachelle from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 153 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nachelle 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 Nachelle during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nachelles live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Michigan, New York recorded the most babies named Nachelle, while New York, Michigan, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 5 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nachelle
The name Nachelle has its origins in the ancient Semitic languages and cultures of the Middle East. It is believed to be derived from the Hebrew root "nachal," which means "river" or "stream." This root word is found in numerous biblical references, such as the Book of Genesis, where it is used to describe the rivers that flowed through the Garden of Eden.
In its earliest form, the name was likely spelled "Nachel" or "Nachil." Over time, as the name spread to different regions and languages, it underwent various modifications and adaptations, eventually evolving into the modern spelling of "Nachelle."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the ancient Babylonian cuneiform tablets, dating back to around 2000 BCE. These tablets mention a woman named "Na-hil-tu," which is believed to be a variant of the name Nachelle.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne this name. One of the earliest was Nachelle of Gath, a Philistine warrior who lived around the 10th century BCE and is mentioned in the biblical Book of Samuel. Another historical figure was Nachelle ben Yitzchak, a renowned Jewish scholar who lived in Cordoba, Spain, during the 11th century CE.
In the 13th century, there was a Sufi mystic and poet from Persia named Nachelle al-Din Rumi, whose works have had a lasting influence on Islamic literature and spirituality. During the Renaissance period, Nachelle de' Medici was a prominent Italian noblewoman and patron of the arts, known for her support of artists like Michelangelo and Raphael.
More recently, in the 20th century, Nachelle Parry was a British writer and activist who campaigned for women's rights and social reform. She was born in 1890 and played a significant role in the suffragette movement in the United Kingdom.
Despite its ancient origins, the name Nachelle has remained relatively uncommon throughout history. However, its rich linguistic and cultural heritage, combined with its connection to notable historical figures, have contributed to its enduring appeal and significance.
People
Nachelle + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nachelle 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
Nachelle: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nachelle?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 426 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nachelle 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 804,588 US residents.
Is Nachelle a common name?
We classify Nachelle as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 449 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nachelle most popular?
The single biggest year for Nachelle was 1992, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nachelle is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nachelle in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 404 people with the name Nachelle, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,004 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 Nachelle 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 Nachelle?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nachelle appears almost entirely female. Of the 401 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 Nachelle?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nachelle is Black at 56.4%. The next largest groups are White (26.5%) and Two or More Races (8.2%). 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 Nachelle most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Nachelle in the 2020 Census, accounting for 56.4% (228 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 Nachelle in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nachelle a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nachelle 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 Nachelle still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nachelle 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 Nachelle 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 Americans are named Nachelle?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.