Nari
A feminine name of Sanskrit origin meaning "woman" or "daughter".
Name Census estimates that about 481 living Americans carry the first name Nari. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Nari today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nari births was 2023 (44 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nari. 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 Nari with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
481
~ 1 in 712,587 Americans
Peak year
2023
44 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,931
Tracked since 1975
Census
Nari in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 710 people with the first name Nari, which placed it at #16,016 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
#16,016
National first-name rank
People counted
710
710 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
47.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nari
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nari is Asian/Pacific Islander at 47.6%. The next largest groups are Black (20.1%) and Two or More Races (13.4%). 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 Nari 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 Nari at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander47.6% · 338
- Black or African American20.1% · 143
- Two or more races13.4% · 95
- Hispanic or Latino9.7% · 69
- White8.7% · 62
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 3
Popularity
Nari: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nari 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 197 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
Nari 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 Nari during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Naris live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Nari, while Ohio, New York, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 12 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nari
The name Nari is believed to have its origins in the Sanskrit language, which is an ancient Indo-Aryan language that dates back several millennia. Sanskrit was the primary liturgical language of Hinduism and the language of ancient texts, scriptures, and philosophical works in India.
In Sanskrit, the word "nari" means "woman" or "female." It is derived from the root word "nar," which means "man" or "human." The name Nari is thought to have been used as a term of endearment or a way to refer to a beloved or cherished woman.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Nari can be found in the Vedas, which are a collection of ancient Hindu scriptures composed between 1500 and 500 BCE. In the Vedas, the term "nari" is used to describe female deities and goddesses, as well as mortal women.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Nari. One of the most famous was Nari Kaluokalani, a Hawaiian queen who ruled the island of Kauai in the early 19th century. She was known for her efforts to preserve Hawaiian culture and traditions in the face of Western influence.
Another notable individual named Nari was Nari Gandhi, the granddaughter of the famous Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi. She was a social activist and advocate for women's rights, and she played a significant role in the Indian independence movement.
In the field of literature, Nari Shakti was a prominent Indian writer and poet who lived in the 19th century. Her works explored themes of feminism and social justice, and she was celebrated for her powerful and evocative writing.
Nari Contractor was an Indian architect and urban planner who made significant contributions to the development of modern architecture in India. He was responsible for designing several iconic buildings and urban spaces in cities like Mumbai and Delhi.
Nari Ward is a contemporary American artist known for his sculptures and installations that explore issues of race, identity, and social justice. His work has been exhibited in museums and galleries around the world, and he has received numerous awards and honors for his contributions to the arts.
While the name Nari has its roots in Sanskrit and Indian culture, it has been adopted and used in various other cultures and languages over time. However, its core meaning and association with femininity and womanhood have remained consistent throughout its history.
People
Nari + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nari 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
Nari: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nari?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 481 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nari 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 712,587 US residents.
Is Nari a common name?
We classify Nari as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 486 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nari most popular?
The single biggest year for Nari was 2023, when 44 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nari is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nari in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 710 people with the name Nari, or 0.24 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,016 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 Nari 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 Nari?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nari leans strongly female. 620 people counted with this name were female (88.1%), compared with 84 male bearers (11.9%). 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 Nari?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nari is Asian/Pacific Islander at 47.6%. The next largest groups are Black (20.1%) and Two or More Races (13.4%). 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 Nari most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Nari in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.6% (338 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 Nari in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nari a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nari 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 Nari still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nari 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 Nari 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 have the name Nari?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.