Neysa
A feminine name derived from the Persian word neyshakari, meaning bravery or courage.
Name Census estimates that about 996 living Americans carry the first name Neysa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Neysa today is around 44 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Neysa births was 1971 (34 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Neysa. 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 Neysa with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
996
~ 1 in 344,131 Americans
Peak year
1971
34 babies that year
Average age
44
years old
2022 SSA rank
#10,978
Tracked since 1917
Census
Neysa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,188 people with the first name Neysa, which placed it at #10,979 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
#10,979
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,188 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
46.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Neysa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Neysa is White at 46.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (28.5%) and Black (11.3%). 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 Neysa 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 Neysa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White46.6% · 554
- Hispanic or Latino28.5% · 338
- Black or African American11.3% · 134
- Asian and Pacific Islander9.3% · 110
- Two or more races3.8% · 45
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 7
Popularity
Neysa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Neysa from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 231 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Neysa 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 Neysa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Neysas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Neysa, while Texas, New York, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 12 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Neysa
The name Neysa has its roots in the Persian language and culture, originating in ancient times. It is derived from the Persian word "neyshā," which means "sweet" or "pleasant." This name was commonly used in various regions of Persia, known today as Iran.
Neysa has been found in historical records and texts dating back to the 6th century AD, during the Sassanid era of Persia. Some scholars suggest that the name may have been inspired by the Persian goddess of water and fertility, Anahita, who was also associated with sweetness and abundance.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Neysa was a Persian scholar and poet who lived in the 9th century AD. She was known for her contributions to the field of literature and her expertise in the Persian language.
In the 12th century, a prominent Persian philosopher and mystic named Neysa al-Din Razi gained recognition for his works on Islamic philosophy and Sufism. He was born in the city of Rayy, located in modern-day Iran, and his writings influenced subsequent generations of Islamic thinkers.
Another notable figure with the name Neysa was a Persian princess who lived during the Safavid dynasty in the 16th century. She was known for her beauty, intelligence, and patronage of the arts, and her name has been immortalized in various Persian literary works.
In the 19th century, a Persian artist named Neysa Banu gained fame for her intricate miniature paintings, which depicted scenes from Persian mythology and literature. Her works are now housed in various museums and art collections around the world.
The name Neysa has also been found in ancient Persian inscriptions and manuscripts, further attesting to its historical significance and usage throughout the centuries. Its meaning of sweetness and pleasantness has made it a popular choice for parents seeking a name with a positive connotation.
People
Neysa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Neysa 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
Neysa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Neysa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 996 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Neysa 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 344,131 US residents.
Is Neysa a common name?
We classify Neysa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 90.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,288 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Neysa most popular?
The single biggest year for Neysa was 1971, when 34 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Neysa is about 44 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Neysa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,188 people with the name Neysa, or 0.39 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,979 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 Neysa 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 Neysa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Neysa appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,198 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 Neysa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Neysa is White at 46.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (28.5%) and Black (11.3%). 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 Neysa most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Neysa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 46.6% (554 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 Neysa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Neysa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Neysa 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 Neysa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Neysa 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 Neysa 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 Americans are named Neysa?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.