Nana
Nana is given to both girls and boys: 16 girls and 16 boys were given it in 2025 (#7,043 among girls’ names and #5,771 among boys’, #7,684 among all names counting both); 3,396 Americans have been recorded with it since 1881 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 2,510 Americans named Nana and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (74% of everyone recorded); the median is 27 years old and half are between 16 and 45.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Nana by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Nana mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Nana is “a female given name from Japanese.”
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Nana?
#7,043 among girls’ names, 2025
Nana fell from #5,971 in 2015 to #7,043 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born fell from 12.3 to 10.0 per million.
70 babies in 2000, the peak
Nana peaked in 2000, when 70 babies were given it (47 girls, #3,004 among girls’ names). The 32 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 46% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 16 | #7,043 | 16 | #5,771 |
| 2024 | 14 | #7,848 | 12 | #7,121 |
| 2023 | 22 | #5,677 | 14 | #6,415 |
| 2022 | 16 | #7,193 | 18 | #5,358 |
| 2021 | 11 | #9,369 | 16 | #5,702 |
| 2020 | 26 | #4,970 | 19 | #4,976 |
| 2019 | 11 | #9,556 | 25 | #4,190 |
| 2018 | 27 | #4,964 | 23 | #4,444 |
| 2017 | 25 | #5,292 | 17 | #5,442 |
| 2016 | 21 | #6,127 | 27 | #3,951 |
Every recorded year (141)
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 22 | #5,971 | 25 | #4,143 |
| 2014 | 20 | #6,374 | 32 | #3,436 |
| 2013 | 22 | #5,951 | 17 | #5,320 |
| 2012 | 16 | #7,696 | 19 | #4,976 |
| 2011 | 28 | #5,012 | 22 | #4,456 |
| 2010 | 27 | #5,205 | 17 | #5,402 |
| 2009 | 26 | #5,492 | 25 | #4,129 |
| 2008 | 31 | #4,845 | 22 | #4,490 |
| 2007 | 33 | #4,538 | 26 | #3,969 |
| 2006 | 39 | #3,903 | 31 | #3,428 |
| 2005 | 26 | #5,066 | 24 | #3,898 |
| 2004 | 41 | #3,600 | 29 | #3,340 |
| 2003 | 27 | #4,773 | 31 | #3,084 |
| 2002 | 36 | #3,701 | 21 | #3,995 |
| 2001 | 39 | #3,467 | 28 | #3,195 |
| 2000 | 47 | #3,004 | 23 | #3,599 |
| 1999 | 34 | #3,616 | 26 | #3,158 |
| 1998 | 25 | #4,455 | 23 | #3,353 |
| 1997 | 33 | #3,511 | 15 | #4,392 |
| 1996 | 21 | #4,829 | 19 | #3,628 |
| 1995 | 29 | #3,739 | 15 | #4,202 |
| 1994 | 31 | #3,581 | 21 | #3,294 |
| 1993 | 26 | #4,062 | 14 | #4,377 |
| 1992 | 24 | #4,333 | 17 | #3,693 |
| 1991 | 18 | #5,321 | 12 | #4,668 |
| 1990 | 28 | #3,782 | 12 | #4,580 |
| 1989 | 37 | #2,962 | 15 | #3,749 |
| 1988 | 24 | #3,856 | under 5 | |
| 1987 | 17 | #4,803 | 7 | #5,891 |
| 1986 | 25 | #3,514 | under 5 | |
| 1985 | 13 | #5,571 | 6 | #6,269 |
| 1984 | 18 | #4,269 | 10 | #4,114 |
| 1983 | 14 | #5,055 | 7 | #5,297 |
| 1982 | 11 | #6,216 | 5 | #7,035 |
| 1981 | 16 | #4,666 | 13 | #3,353 |
| 1980 | 17 | #4,455 | 6 | #6,007 |
| 1979 | 16 | #4,543 | 12 | #3,498 |
| 1978 | 17 | #4,194 | 11 | #3,546 |
| 1977 | 25 | #3,141 | 5 | #6,532 |
| 1976 | 16 | #4,090 | 5 | #6,193 |
| 1975 | 16 | #4,072 | under 5 | |
| 1974 | 20 | #3,396 | 5 | #5,751 |
| 1973 | 11 | #5,097 | under 5 | |
| 1972 | 23 | #2,958 | 6 | #4,795 |
| 1971 | 16 | #3,890 | under 5 | |
| 1970 | 10 | #5,297 | under 5 | |
| 1969 | 12 | #4,347 | under 5 | |
| 1968 | 8 | #5,487 | under 5 | |
| 1967 | 9 | #4,864 | under 5 | |
| 1966 | 11 | #4,131 | under 5 | |
| 1965 | 7 | #5,638 | under 5 | |
| 1964 | 15 | #3,469 | under 5 | |
| 1963 | 6 | #6,374 | under 5 | |
| 1962 | 11 | #4,196 | under 5 | |
| 1961 | 16 | #3,285 | under 5 | |
| 1960 | 13 | #3,634 | under 5 | |
| 1959 | 10 | #4,223 | under 5 | |
| 1958 | 17 | #2,933 | under 5 | |
| 1957 | 16 | #3,000 | under 5 | |
| 1956 | 23 | #2,364 | under 5 | |
| 1955 | 17 | #2,805 | under 5 | |
| 1954 | 11 | #3,641 | under 5 | |
| 1953 | 19 | #2,483 | under 5 | |
| 1952 | 17 | #2,642 | under 5 | |
| 1951 | 22 | #2,169 | under 5 | |
| 1950 | 20 | #2,229 | under 5 | |
| 1949 | 29 | #1,794 | under 5 | |
| 1948 | 29 | #1,763 | under 5 | |
| 1947 | 20 | #2,263 | under 5 | |
| 1946 | 15 | #2,564 | under 5 | |
| 1945 | 9 | #3,314 | under 5 | |
| 1944 | 23 | #1,784 | under 5 | |
| 1943 | 25 | #1,742 | under 5 | |
| 1942 | 16 | #2,282 | under 5 | |
| 1941 | 17 | #2,071 | under 5 | |
| 1940 | 19 | #1,879 | under 5 | |
| 1939 | 23 | #1,621 | under 5 | |
| 1938 | 18 | #1,922 | under 5 | |
| 1937 | 20 | #1,769 | under 5 | |
| 1936 | 16 | #2,000 | under 5 | |
| 1935 | 27 | #1,436 | under 5 | |
| 1934 | 20 | #1,755 | under 5 | |
| 1933 | 10 | #2,820 | under 5 | |
| 1932 | 16 | #2,104 | under 5 | |
| 1931 | 15 | #2,175 | under 5 | |
| 1930 | 17 | #2,087 | under 5 | |
| 1929 | 17 | #2,075 | under 5 | |
| 1928 | 18 | #2,071 | under 5 | |
| 1927 | 16 | #2,313 | under 5 | |
| 1926 | 22 | #1,866 | under 5 | |
| 1925 | 14 | #2,575 | under 5 | |
| 1924 | 26 | #1,704 | under 5 | |
| 1923 | 25 | #1,715 | under 5 | |
| 1922 | 18 | #2,167 | under 5 | |
| 1921 | 35 | #1,360 | under 5 | |
| 1920 | 14 | #2,552 | under 5 | |
| 1919 | 24 | #1,687 | under 5 | |
| 1918 | 27 | #1,559 | under 5 | |
| 1917 | 22 | #1,689 | under 5 | |
| 1916 | 28 | #1,396 | under 5 | |
| 1915 | 20 | #1,724 | under 5 | |
| 1914 | 9 | #2,568 | under 5 | |
| 1913 | 13 | #1,734 | under 5 | |
| 1912 | 14 | #1,519 | under 5 | |
| 1911 | 8 | #1,906 | under 5 | |
| 1910 | 9 | #1,725 | under 5 | |
| 1909 | 5 | #2,444 | under 5 | |
| 1907 | 7 | #1,761 | under 5 | |
| 1905 | 6 | #1,856 | under 5 | |
| 1904 | 7 | #1,605 | under 5 | |
| 1903 | 8 | #1,407 | under 5 | |
| 1902 | 8 | #1,400 | under 5 | |
| 1901 | 5 | #1,870 | under 5 | |
| 1900 | 7 | #1,686 | under 5 | |
| 1899 | 7 | #1,356 | under 5 | |
| 1898 | 13 | #1,000 | under 5 | |
| 1897 | 5 | #1,716 | under 5 | |
| 1896 | 9 | #1,184 | under 5 | |
| 1895 | 11 | #1,036 | under 5 | |
| 1894 | 10 | #1,045 | under 5 | |
| 1893 | 9 | #1,068 | under 5 | |
| 1892 | 7 | #1,240 | under 5 | |
| 1891 | 7 | #1,179 | under 5 | |
| 1890 | 7 | #1,168 | under 5 | |
| 1889 | 10 | #886 | under 5 | |
| 1888 | 8 | #1,007 | under 5 | |
| 1886 | 6 | #1,068 | under 5 | |
| 1885 | 5 | #1,156 | under 5 | |
| 1884 | 6 | #994 | under 5 | |
| 1883 | 5 | #1,009 | under 5 | |
| 1881 | 9 | #613 | under 5 |
Ranks: girls’ names and boys’ names ranked separately in each year’s SSA file; “under 5” is a year SSA did not list the name for that sex.
Is Nana a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 3,396 Americans recorded as Nana, 74% are girls and 26% boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Nana: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Nana, and how old are they?
2,510 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 74% of the 3,396 Americans ever recorded as Nana. The median Nana alive today is 27 years old; half are between 16 and 45.
The 2020 Census counted 7,719 people named Nana (5,393 women and girls, 2,326 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 2,429 born in the U.S. The Census count is 3.2 times that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 98 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 247 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 264 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 508 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 878 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 510 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Nana born?
The states with the most babies named Nana are New York, California and Maryland, with 84% of its births recorded by state since 1910; Maryland is not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 353 | not ranked | 1.5× |
| California | 69 | not ranked | 0.2× |
| Maryland | 45 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| New Jersey | 27 | not ranked | 0.3× |
| Virginia | 18 | not ranked | 0.2× |
| Kentucky | 11 | not ranked | 0.2× |
| Missouri | 11 | not ranked | 0.1× |
| Texas | 10 | not ranked | 0.0× |
| Massachusetts | 6 | not ranked | 0.1× |
| Illinois | 5 | not ranked | 0.0× |
Where Nana is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Nana is most over-represented in New York: since 1910 it was given 1.5 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Nana with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 16,678 babies since 1880, Nana is the second most given (20% of them). In 2025 it was given to 32 of their 611 babies (5.2%), the fourth most given that year.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
More about Nana and names like it
- Compare Nana and NayaBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2000sNana peaked in 2000.
- New York’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Nana since 1910.
- Japanese namesWiktionary’s origin for Nana: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 2000The year the most babies were named Nana.
- The names of Generation ZMost people named Nana alive today were born 1997-2012.
- Names starting with NMost given first.