Nani
A feminine Japanese name meaning "beauty".
Name Census estimates that about 628 living Americans carry the first name Nani. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Nani today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nani births was 2021 (39 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nani. 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
628
~ 1 in 545,787 Americans
Peak year
2021
39 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,089
Tracked since 1922
Census
Nani in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,174 people with the first name Nani, which placed it at #11,075 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
#11,075
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,174 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
26.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nani
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nani is Hispanic at 26.5%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (26.5%) and White (22.7%). 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 Nani 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 Nani at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino26.5% · 311
- Asian and Pacific Islander26.5% · 311
- White22.7% · 267
- Two or more races12.0% · 141
- Black or African American11.1% · 130
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 14
Popularity
Nani: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nani from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 191 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nani 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 Nani during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nanis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, Hawaii, Texas recorded the most babies named Nani, while Florida, Texas, Hawaii recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 16 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nani
The name Nani has its origins in several cultures and languages around the world. In Hawaiian culture, Nani is a feminine given name that means "beautiful" or "pretty." It is derived from the Hawaiian word nani, which refers to beauty, grace, and loveliness.
In Indian languages like Hindi and Punjabi, Nani is a term used to address one's maternal grandmother. It is a respectful and affectionate way to refer to the paternal side of the family. The name Nani is also found in Persian, where it means "little bread" or "baby bread."
The name Nani can be traced back to ancient texts and religious scriptures. In Hindu mythology, Nani is one of the names of the goddess Parvati, who is revered as the divine mother and the wife of Lord Shiva. The name is also mentioned in the Puranas, a collection of ancient Hindu texts.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Nani was in the 6th century BCE, when it was used by a Persian princess named Nani, the daughter of King Cyrus the Great. Another notable historical figure with the name Nani was Nani Palkhivala, an Indian jurist and economist who lived from 1920 to 2002.
In the world of literature, Nani is the name of a character in the novel "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy, which won the Booker Prize in 1997. The character Nani is depicted as a strong-willed and independent woman who defies societal norms.
In the realm of politics, Nani Palkhivala was a prominent Indian jurist and economist who played a significant role in shaping the country's economic policies in the late 20th century. He was widely respected for his legal expertise and his advocacy for civil liberties.
Another notable figure with the name Nani was Nani Bregvadze, a Georgian singer and actress who lived from 1938 to 2017. She was a celebrated performer who made significant contributions to the cultural heritage of Georgia through her music and acting career.
In sports, Nani is the nickname of Luís Carlos Almeida da Cunha, a Portuguese professional footballer who was born in 1986. He has played for several top clubs, including Manchester United and Valencia, and has represented the Portuguese national team.
People
Nani + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nani 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
Nani: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nani?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 628 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nani 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 545,787 US residents.
Is Nani a common name?
We classify Nani as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 667 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nani most popular?
The single biggest year for Nani was 2021, when 39 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nani is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nani in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,174 people with the name Nani, or 0.39 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,075 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 Nani 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 Nani?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nani leans strongly female. 1,108 people counted with this name were female (94.4%), compared with 66 male bearers (5.6%). 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 Nani?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nani is Hispanic at 26.5%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (26.5%) and White (22.7%). 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 Nani most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Nani in the 2020 Census, accounting for 26.5% (311 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 Nani in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nani a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nani 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 Nani still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nani 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 Nani 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 Nani?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.