Nikai
Japanese unisex name meaning "dweller of the second floor or level".
Name Census estimates that about 155 living Americans carry the first name Nikai. It is a predominantly male name (96.8% of registrations). The average person named Nikai today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nikai births was 2008 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nikai. 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
155
~ 1 in 2,211,318 Americans
Peak year
2008
11 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,574
Tracked since 2000
Census
Nikai in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 165 people with the first name Nikai, which placed it at #43,061 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
#43,061
National first-name rank
People counted
165
165 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
60.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nikai
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nikai is Black at 60.6%. The next largest groups are White (13.3%) and Hispanic (10.9%). 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 Nikai 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 Nikai at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American60.6% · 100
- White13.3% · 22
- Hispanic or Latino10.9% · 18
- Two or more races7.9% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native4.2% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.0% · 5
Gender
Gender distribution for Nikai
Nikai leans heavily male at 96.8% of total registrations, but 5 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Nikai as a male name
- Ranked #7,574 in 2024
- 11 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2008 (11 births)
Nikai as a female name
- Ranked #19,244 in 2006
- 5 female births in 2006
- Peak: 2006 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Nikai on both sides of the split. Of the 167 people counted with this name, 117 were male (70.1%) and 50 were female (29.9%).
Popularity
Nikai: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nikai from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 62 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Nikai remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nikai 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 Nikai during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nikai
The name Nikai is believed to have its origins in the Sanskrit language, which was the classical literary language of ancient India. It is thought to be derived from the Sanskrit word "nikaya," which means a collection or a group. The name is believed to have emerged around the 5th century BCE during the Vedic period in ancient India.
In ancient Hindu texts, the word "nikaya" was often used to refer to a collection of teachings or a school of thought. It is possible that the name Nikai was originally given to individuals who were part of a particular philosophical or religious group or tradition.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Nikai can be found in the Buddhist scriptures known as the Pali Canon, which dates back to the 3rd century BCE. In these texts, there is a mention of a Buddhist monk named Nikai who was a disciple of the Buddha himself.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who have borne the name Nikai. One of the most famous was Nikai of Sravasti, who lived in the 6th century CE and was a renowned Buddhist scholar and philosopher. He is credited with writing several influential treatises on Buddhist philosophy and is considered one of the key figures in the development of the Madhyamaka school of Buddhist thought.
Another notable figure was Nikai the Grammarian, who lived in the 7th century CE and was a prominent Sanskrit scholar and author of several works on grammar and linguistics. His works were widely studied and influential in the field of Sanskrit literature and language.
In the 12th century, there was a Buddhist monk named Nikai who was a prominent figure in the Ari Buddhist tradition of Southeast Asia. He is said to have played a significant role in the spread of Buddhism in the region and is revered as a important figure in the religious history of countries like Thailand and Myanmar.
During the 16th century, there was a Persian poet and mystic named Nikai who was known for his spiritual poetry and writings on Sufism. His works were widely read and admired in the Persian-speaking world and had a significant influence on the development of Sufi literature and thought.
In more recent times, one of the most well-known individuals with the name Nikai was Nikai Taru, a Japanese novelist and poet who lived from 1888 to 1965. He was a prominent figure in the literary world of Japan and is best known for his novels and short stories that explored themes of human nature and the human condition.
People
Nikai + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nikai 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
Nikai: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nikai?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 155 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nikai 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 2,211,318 US residents.
Is Nikai a common name?
We classify Nikai as "Very Rare". It ranks above 70.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 156 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nikai most popular?
The single biggest year for Nikai was 2008, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nikai is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nikai in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 165 people with the name Nikai, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #43,061 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 Nikai 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 Nikai?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Nikai on both sides of the split. Of the 167 people counted with this name, 117 were male (70.1%) and 50 were female (29.9%). 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 Nikai?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nikai is Black at 60.6%. The next largest groups are White (13.3%) and Hispanic (10.9%). 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 Nikai most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Nikai in the 2020 Census, accounting for 60.6% (100 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 Nikai in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nikai a male name?
Yes, 96.8% of people registered as Nikai in the SSA data are male. 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 Nikai still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nikai 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 Nikai 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 Nikai?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.