Naia
A feminine name of Hawaiian origin meaning beautiful, radiant.
Name Census estimates that about 2,070 living Americans carry the first name Naia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Naia today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Naia births was 2023 (141 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Naia. 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 Naia with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Naia is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 13 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.1K
~ 1 in 165,582 Americans
Peak year
2023
141 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,855
Tracked since 1982
Census
Naia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,527 people with the first name Naia, which placed it at #9,207 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
#9,207
National first-name rank
People counted
1.5K
1,527 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
32.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Naia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Naia is White at 32.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (28.5%) and Two or More Races (19.1%). 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 Naia 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 Naia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White32.5% · 497
- Hispanic or Latino28.5% · 435
- Two or more races19.1% · 292
- Black or African American11.8% · 180
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.5% · 115
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 8
Popularity
Naia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Naia from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 825 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Naia remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Naia 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 Naia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Naias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 16 states and territories. California, Hawaii, New York recorded the most babies named Naia, while Utah, North Carolina, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 69 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Naia
The given name Naia has its origins in ancient Greek culture. It is derived from the Greek word "naias", which means "river nymph" or "water sprite". The name was commonly used in ancient Greece as a reference to minor female deities associated with rivers, streams, and other bodies of water.
In Greek mythology, the Naiads were a type of minor female deities known as nymphs who presided over rivers, streams, brooks, marshes, and other freshwater environments. They were often depicted as beautiful young maidens who were closely connected to the natural world and played an important role in various myths and legends.
The earliest recorded use of the name Naia can be traced back to ancient Greek texts and inscriptions from the 5th century BCE. One notable mention of the name is found in the works of the ancient Greek poet Pindar, who wrote about the Naiads in his odes and hymns.
Throughout history, the name Naia has been borne by several notable figures. One of the earliest recorded individuals with this name was Naia of Miletus, a renowned Greek poet and musician who lived in the 6th century BCE. She was celebrated for her beautiful songs and was said to have been trained by the legendary poet Sappho.
Another historical figure with the name Naia was a Greek priestess who served at the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus during the 4th century BCE. She was highly respected for her devotion and wisdom, and her name was inscribed on several dedicatory offerings found at the temple site.
In the medieval period, a woman named Naia de Baux was a prominent figure in the court of the Count of Provence in the 12th century. She was known for her beauty, intelligence, and influence in the cultural and political affairs of the region.
During the Renaissance, a notable Italian artist named Naia Michelini was celebrated for her exquisite portraits and religious paintings. She lived and worked in Florence during the 16th century and was admired for her skill and artistic talent.
In more recent history, Naia Veneta was a renowned Italian opera singer who performed in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. She was renowned for her powerful voice and captivating stage presence, and was considered one of the greatest sopranos of her time.
People
Naia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Naia 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
Naia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Naia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,070 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Naia 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 165,582 US residents.
Is Naia a common name?
We classify Naia as "Rare". It ranks above 93.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,091 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Naia most popular?
The single biggest year for Naia was 2023, when 141 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Naia is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Naia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,527 people with the name Naia, or 0.51 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,207 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 Naia 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 Naia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Naia leans strongly female. 1,491 people counted with this name were female (98.1%), compared with 29 male bearers (1.9%). 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 Naia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Naia is White at 32.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (28.5%) and Two or More Races (19.1%). 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 Naia most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Naia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 32.5% (497 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 Naia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Naia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Naia 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 Naia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Naia 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 Naia 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 common is the name Naia?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Naia at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.