Nini
A diminutive form of the name Nina, of Russian origin.
Name Census estimates that about 159 living Americans carry the first name Nini. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Nini today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nini births was 1997 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nini. 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
159
~ 1 in 2,155,688 Americans
Peak year
1997
15 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2016 SSA rank
#13,961
Tracked since 1968
Census
Nini in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 998 people with the first name Nini, which placed it at #12,453 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
#12,453
National first-name rank
People counted
998
998 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
49.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nini
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nini is Asian/Pacific Islander at 49.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (21.5%) and White (15.2%). 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 Nini 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 Nini at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander49.4% · 493
- Hispanic or Latino21.5% · 215
- White15.2% · 152
- Black or African American12.4% · 124
- Two or more races1.4% · 14
Popularity
Nini: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nini from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 70 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
Nini 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 Nini during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ninis live
Origin
Meaning and history of Nini
The name Nini is believed to have originated in ancient Egypt, where it was a diminutive form of the name Nefernini, which means "beautiful" or "good". It was a popular name among the Egyptian nobility and royalty during the New Kingdom period, which lasted from approximately 1550 to 1070 BC.
Nini was also a name used in ancient Sumerian and Babylonian cultures, where it was likely derived from the Akkadian word "ninu", meaning "fish". In these cultures, the name was often associated with the goddess Ninhursag, who was the goddess of fertility and childbirth.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Nini can be found in the Epic of Gilgamesh, an ancient Mesopotamian poem dating back to around 2100 BC. In this epic, Nini is mentioned as the name of a sacred fish that guides the hero Gilgamesh on his journey.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Nini. One such person was Nini of Gath, a biblical figure mentioned in the Book of Samuel as a giant who was slain by David's nephew, Elhanan. This event is believed to have taken place around 1000 BC.
In the 5th century AD, there was a famous Byzantine empress named Aelia Eudoxia, who was also known as Nini. She was the wife of the Eastern Roman Emperor Arcadius and was known for her patronage of the arts and her efforts to promote Christianity.
Another notable Nini was Nini Stanski, a Polish actress and dancer who lived from 1886 to 1958. She was a prominent figure in the early days of Polish cinema and is considered one of the pioneers of Polish film.
In the world of literature, there was Nini Johanna Roll Anker, a Norwegian writer and feminist who lived from 1873 to 1942. She was known for her novels that explored themes of gender equality and women's rights.
Finally, in the field of music, there was Nini Rosso, an Italian jazz trumpet player and composer who lived from 1926 to 1994. He was considered one of the leading jazz musicians in Italy during the mid-20th century and was influential in popularizing jazz in his home country.
People
Nini + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nini 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
Nini: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nini?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 159 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nini 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 2,155,688 US residents.
Is Nini a common name?
We classify Nini as "Very Rare". It ranks above 71.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 164 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nini most popular?
The single biggest year for Nini was 1997, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nini 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 Nini in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 998 people with the name Nini, or 0.33 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,453 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 Nini 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 Nini?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nini leans strongly female. 968 people counted with this name were female (97.5%), compared with 25 male bearers (2.5%). 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 Nini?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nini is Asian/Pacific Islander at 49.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (21.5%) and White (15.2%). 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 Nini most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Nini in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.4% (493 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 Nini in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nini a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nini 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 Nini still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nini 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 Nini 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 Nini as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.