Nomi
A Japanese feminine name meaning "beautiful" or "beauty".
Name Census estimates that about 549 living Americans carry the first name Nomi. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Nomi today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nomi births was 2024 (71 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nomi. 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 Nomi with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
549
~ 1 in 624,325 Americans
Peak year
2024
71 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,516
Tracked since 1954
Census
Nomi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 616 people with the first name Nomi, which placed it at #17,727 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
#17,727
National first-name rank
People counted
616
616 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
46.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nomi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nomi is White at 46.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (20.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (15.9%). 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 Nomi 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 Nomi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White46.1% · 284
- Hispanic or Latino20.0% · 123
- Asian and Pacific Islander15.9% · 98
- Black or African American9.3% · 57
- Two or more races7.6% · 47
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 7
Popularity
Nomi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nomi from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 298 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
Nomi 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 Nomi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nomis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. California, North Carolina, New York recorded the most babies named Nomi, while New Jersey, Florida, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 16 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nomi
The name Nomi has its origins in the Japanese language and culture. It is derived from the Japanese word "nomi," which means "to drink" or "to swallow." The name can be traced back to the Heian period (794-1185 CE) in Japan.
Nomi was a relatively common name for women in ancient Japan. It was often given to daughters born into families involved in the production or distribution of sake, a traditional Japanese rice wine. The name was seen as a symbol of hospitality and generosity.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Nomi can be found in the "Kojiki," an ancient Japanese chronicle compiled in 712 CE. The text mentions a character named Nomi no Sukune, who was a legendary figure associated with the introduction of sake brewing to Japan.
Throughout Japanese history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Nomi. One example is Nomi no Sukune Okume (born 678 CE), who was a renowned sake brewer and purported to be a descendant of the legendary Nomi no Sukune.
Another historical figure with the name Nomi was Nomi Muratada (1325-1388 CE), a Japanese military commander who served under the Ashikaga shogunate during the Nanboku-chō period.
In the Edo period (1603-1867 CE), a famous courtesan named Nomi no Mai (1661-1716) was renowned for her beauty and skill in traditional Japanese dance and entertainment.
During the Meiji era (1868-1912 CE), Nomi Yushichi (1840-1903) was a prominent businessman and industrialist who played a significant role in the modernization of Japan's textile industry.
In more recent times, Nomi Kusunoki (1923-2017) was a celebrated Japanese ceramist and Living National Treasure, recognized for her mastery of the Karatsu pottery style.
People
Nomi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nomi 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
Nomi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nomi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 549 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nomi 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 624,325 US residents.
Is Nomi a common name?
We classify Nomi as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 557 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nomi most popular?
The single biggest year for Nomi was 2024, when 71 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nomi is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nomi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 616 people with the name Nomi, or 0.20 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,727 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 Nomi 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 Nomi?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nomi leans strongly female. 601 people counted with this name were female (98.2%), compared with 11 male bearers (1.8%). 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 Nomi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nomi is White at 46.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (20.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (15.9%). 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 Nomi most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Nomi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 46.1% (284 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 Nomi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nomi a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nomi 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 Nomi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nomi 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 Nomi 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 common is the name Nomi?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Nomi at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.