Nadya
A feminine Russian diminutive of the Greek name Nadia, meaning "hope".
Name Census estimates that about 2,526 living Americans carry the first name Nadya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Nadya today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nadya births was 2006 (115 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nadya. 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 Nadya with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.5K
~ 1 in 135,691 Americans
Peak year
2006
115 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,973
Tracked since 1915
Census
Nadya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,477 people with the first name Nadya, which placed it at #5,066 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
#5,066
National first-name rank
People counted
3.5K
3,477 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
43.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nadya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nadya is White at 43.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (33.8%) and Black (10.6%). 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 Nadya 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 Nadya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White43.2% · 1,501
- Hispanic or Latino33.8% · 1,174
- Black or African American10.6% · 367
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.2% · 215
- Two or more races6.0% · 210
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 10
Popularity
Nadya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nadya from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 951 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nadya 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 Nadya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nadyas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 16 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Nadya, while Wisconsin, Washington, Colorado recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 63 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nadya
The name Nadya is a Russian feminine given name derived from the Greek name Nadia, which itself comes from the name Nadezhda, meaning "hope" or "faith." Nadya is a diminutive or pet form of Nadezhda, a name that has been popular in Slavic cultures for centuries.
The name Nadezhda has its origins in the ancient Greek word "elpis," which translates to "hope" or "expectation." It was likely introduced to the Slavic regions through the spread of Christianity and the adoption of Greek biblical names. Over time, various diminutive forms of the name emerged, including Nadya, which became a commonly used name in its own right.
Historically, the name Nadya has been associated with several notable figures. In the late 19th century, Nadya Suslova was a prominent Russian revolutionary and feminist activist who played a significant role in the Narodnaya Volya (People's Will) movement. Nadya Rusheva, born in 1952, is a celebrated Russian actress known for her roles in numerous films and theater productions.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Nadya dates back to the 18th century when Nadya Durova, a Russian cavalry maiden, famously served in the Russian cavalry during the Napoleonic Wars disguised as a male soldier. Her memoir, "The Calvary Maiden," published in 1836, chronicles her remarkable life and adventures.
Another notable figure bearing the name Nadya is Nadya Krupskaya, born in 1869, who was a Russian revolutionary and the wife of Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the Bolshevik Revolution. Krupskaya played a crucial role in shaping Soviet education policies and establishing the country's library system.
In the realm of literature, Nadya Khvoshchinskaya, born in 1824, was a prominent Russian writer and activist who advocated for women's rights and education. Her literary works, including novels and short stories, explored themes of social injustice and the plight of women in 19th-century Russian society.
While these are just a few examples, the name Nadya has been borne by many influential and remarkable individuals throughout history, reflecting its deep roots in Russian and Slavic cultures and its association with hope, faith, and perseverance.
People
Nadya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nadya 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
Nadya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nadya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,526 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nadya 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 135,691 US residents.
Is Nadya a common name?
We classify Nadya as "Rare". It ranks above 94.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,625 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nadya most popular?
The single biggest year for Nadya was 2006, when 115 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nadya is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nadya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,477 people with the name Nadya, or 1.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,066 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 Nadya 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 Nadya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nadya appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,474 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 Nadya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nadya is White at 43.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (33.8%) and Black (10.6%). 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 Nadya most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Nadya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 43.2% (1,501 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 Nadya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nadya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nadya 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 Nadya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nadya 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 Nadya 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 named Nadya?
Find out how many Americans are named Nadya on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.