Recorded 1993–2025 · United States
Nihal was most popular in 2016, when 61 American babies were given the name — ranking #4,896 that year. In 2025 it ranked #5,336, with 54 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 1,063 people named Nihal.
Nihal first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1993, which makes it about 32 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 32 of the 33 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 1,063 American births named Nihal between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 1,052 are estimated to be alive today.
54 American babies were named Nihal in 2025, ranking #5,336 that year.
Nihal is holding steady. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 48 births a year, against 48 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of -1% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Nihal is a unisex name — 22.4% of the 1,063 Americans given it were girls and 77.6% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 28% girls and 72% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 1,052 Americans named Nihal are alive today — 99% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 12 years old, and half are between 6 and 18. That is a narrow band because Nihal is a young name — it only became common recently, so almost everyone carrying it is still a child or a young adult.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Nihal on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org