Nigeria
An African name meaning "home of the high sun".
Name Census estimates that about 783 living Americans carry the first name Nigeria. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Nigeria today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nigeria births was 2000 (58 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nigeria. 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
783
~ 1 in 437,745 Americans
Peak year
2000
58 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2022 SSA rank
#10,195
Tracked since 1975
Census
Nigeria in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 656 people with the first name Nigeria, which placed it at #16,994 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
#16,994
National first-name rank
People counted
656
656 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
91.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nigeria
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nigeria is Black at 91.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.8%) and Two or More Races (2.4%). 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 Nigeria 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 Nigeria at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American91.5% · 600
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 25
- Two or more races2.4% · 16
- White1.8% · 12
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 3
Popularity
Nigeria: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nigeria from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 308 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nigeria 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 Nigeria during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nigerias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. New York, Georgia, Florida recorded the most babies named Nigeria, while Mississippi, Alabama, New Jersey recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 25 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nigeria
The name Nigeria is a modern name derived from the Niger River, which flows through several countries in West Africa, including Nigeria. The name itself is not of ancient origin, but rather a relatively recent coinage.
The name Nigeria was first proposed by British journalist Flora Shaw in an 1898 article in The Times, where she suggested that the territories around the Niger River should be collectively known as "Nigeria." The name was officially adopted in 1914 when the British colonial territories of the Niger Coast Protectorate and the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria were merged to form the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria.
While the name Nigeria itself does not have a long historical tradition, the Niger River has been an important geographic feature in West Africa for centuries. The river's name is derived from the Latin word "niger," meaning "black," which was likely used by ancient Roman writers to refer to the dark-skinned people living along its banks.
As for famous individuals named Nigeria, it is important to note that the name is primarily used as a place name and is not commonly given as a personal name. However, there are a few exceptions, such as Nigerian-American writer and activist Nigeria Natalie Noel Isibor, who was born in 1990.
Additionally, some individuals have adopted the name Nigeria as a symbolic gesture or to express their connection to the country. For instance, Nigerian-American writer and activist Nigeria Noel, who was born in 1932, changed her name from Ruby Noel to Nigeria Noel as a way of embracing her African heritage.
Another notable figure is Nigerian-American artist Nigeria A. Mbanefo, who was born in 1950 and is known for her vibrant paintings and sculptures that celebrate African culture and identity.
It is worth mentioning that while the name Nigeria itself is not ancient, the region that now bears this name has a rich cultural and historical heritage, dating back to the powerful empires of the Nok, Kanem-Bornu, and Oyo, among others.
People
Nigeria + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nigeria 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
Nigeria: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nigeria?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 783 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nigeria 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 437,745 US residents.
Is Nigeria a common name?
We classify Nigeria as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 805 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nigeria most popular?
The single biggest year for Nigeria was 2000, when 58 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nigeria is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nigeria in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 656 people with the name Nigeria, or 0.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,994 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 Nigeria 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 Nigeria?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nigeria leans strongly female. 629 people counted with this name were female (95.9%), compared with 27 male bearers (4.1%). 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 Nigeria?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nigeria is Black at 91.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.8%) and Two or More Races (2.4%). 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 Nigeria most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Nigeria in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.5% (600 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 Nigeria in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nigeria a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nigeria 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 Nigeria still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nigeria 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 Nigeria 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 Nigeria?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Nigeria at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.