Nailah
An Arabic feminine name meaning "successful" or "attaining success".
Name Census estimates that about 4,658 living Americans carry the first name Nailah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Nailah today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nailah births was 2018 (256 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nailah. 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 Nailah with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Nailah is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
4.7K
~ 1 in 73,584 Americans
Peak year
2018
256 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,812
Tracked since 1971
Census
Nailah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,377 people with the first name Nailah, which placed it at #5,171 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
#5,171
National first-name rank
People counted
3.4K
3,377 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
68.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nailah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nailah is Black at 68.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.1%) and Two or More Races (7.1%). 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 Nailah 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 Nailah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American68.0% · 2,297
- Hispanic or Latino17.1% · 576
- Two or more races7.1% · 241
- White3.8% · 129
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.5% · 119
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 15
Popularity
Nailah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nailah from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,866 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Nailah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nailah 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 Nailah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nailahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 25 states and territories. New York, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Nailah, while Wisconsin, Nevada, Missouri recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 124 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nailah
The name Nailah is of Arabic origin, derived from the word "naal," which means "to attain" or "to achieve." It is a feminine name that is believed to have been in use since the early days of Islam.
In the Arabic language, the name Nailah is often associated with beauty, grace, and accomplishment. It is considered a name that carries a sense of aspiration and ambition, inspiring the bearer to reach for their goals and dreams.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Nailah can be found in the writings of Arabic scholars and poets from the 7th and 8th centuries. The name was particularly popular among the elite classes of the time, with many notable women bearing this name.
Throughout history, several influential women have carried the name Nailah. One of the most prominent was Nailah bint al-Faraj (1027-1109), a renowned poet and scholar from Andalusia, Spain. Her poetry and literary works were highly acclaimed during her lifetime and continue to be studied and admired today.
Another notable Nailah was Nailah al-Ahdal (1262-1342), a Yemeni princess and patron of the arts. She was known for her support of poets, philosophers, and artists, and her court was a center of cultural and intellectual exchange during the medieval period.
In the modern era, Nailah Nasr (born 1950) is a prominent Lebanese-American philosopher and author. She is best known for her contributions to the study of Islamic philosophy and her efforts to promote cross-cultural understanding.
Nailah Lymus (1941-2009) was an American civil rights activist and educator who dedicated her life to promoting education and empowerment for underprivileged communities. She founded several organizations and initiatives aimed at improving the lives of marginalized groups.
Nailah Blackman (born 1996) is a contemporary Trinidadian-American singer and songwriter. She has gained recognition for her unique blend of Caribbean and R&B music, and her powerful vocals have earned her a dedicated following.
These are just a few examples of the many remarkable women who have borne the name Nailah throughout history. The name continues to be popular today, particularly in the Middle East and among Arabic-speaking communities around the world.
People
Nailah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nailah 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
Nailah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nailah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,658 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nailah 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 73,584 US residents.
Is Nailah a common name?
We classify Nailah as "Rare". It ranks above 96.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,736 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nailah most popular?
The single biggest year for Nailah was 2018, when 256 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nailah is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nailah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,377 people with the name Nailah, or 1.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,171 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 Nailah 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 Nailah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nailah appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,374 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Nailah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nailah is Black at 68.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.1%) and Two or More Races (7.1%). 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 Nailah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Nailah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.0% (2,297 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 Nailah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nailah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nailah 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 Nailah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nailah 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 Nailah 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 Nailah?
Want to know how many Americans are named Nailah? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.