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NameAlmanac

Nina

Girls’ name Recorded 1880-2025

Nina was given to 946 girls in 2025, #324 among girls’ names; 134,038 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).

An estimated 87,700 Americans named Nina and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (65% of everyone recorded); the median is 39 years old and half are between 21 and 63.

Babies named Nina each year, first recorded in 1880
Nina, 1880-2025; highest in 1980.5001k1.5k2k188019001920194019601980200020251980 peak: 1,896
Nina, 1880-2025; highest in 1980.5001k1.5k2k188019001920194019601980200020251980 peak: 1,896
Nina, 1880-2025; highest in 1980.5001k1.5k2k18801905193019551980200520251980 peak: 1,896
Nina, 1880-2025; highest in 1980.5001k1.5k2k18801930198020251980 peak: 1,896

Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).

Nina or NiaNames of the 1980sNames in New York

Births of Nina by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.

What does Nina mean?

Wiktionary, English section

Nina is “a female given name in continuous use since the 19th century.”

Borrowed into English in the nineteenth century, apparently from several sources. Many borrowings are of Russian Ни́на (Nína), the name of a Georgian saint in the fourth century, also known as Nino, of obscure origin and meaning, possibly connected with the Assyrian king Ninus. Others are of an Italian short form of diminutives like Annina from Anna and Giovannina from Giovanna. Phonologically or orthographically similar names are present in several languages, including Afrikaans, Hindi, Italian, Persian, Romanian, Russian, Spanish and some Native American languages. In many of those, it is a nickname for names ending in -ina or -nina. (hidden message in crossword): After Nina Hirschfeld, the daughter of the American caricaturist Al Hirschfeld; her name was often concealed in his drawings.

/ˈniːnə/

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary, entry Nina (English), CC BY‑SA 4.0. Quoted from the entry; text after a cross-reference to another sense is left out.

Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).

How popular is Nina?

#324 among girls’ names, 2025

Nina fell from #299 in 2015 to #324 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born fell from 0.61 to 0.59 per 1,000.

1,896 babies in 1980, the peak

Nina peaked in 1980, when 1,896 babies were given it (1,889 girls, #148 among girls’ names). The 946 births of 2025 are 50% of that peak.

Nina by year
YearBirthsRankPer 1,000 girls
2025946#3240.59
2024960#3210.59
2023920#3380.57
20221,025#3130.62
20211,005#3240.61
2020944#3270.58
20191,006#3190.60
20181,029#3190.60
20171,020#3210.59
20161,047#3090.59
Every recorded year (146)
YearBirthsRankPer 1,000 girls
20151,080#2990.61
20141,110#2950.62
20131,116#2840.64
20121,093#2900.62
20111,051#3040.60
20101,002#3180.56
20091,149#2890.63
20081,230#2770.65
20071,270#2680.66
20061,212#2760.64
20051,287#2520.70
20041,326#2430.72
20031,356#2400.74
20021,320#2430.73
20011,306#2430.73
20001,428#2190.79
19991,437#2190.81
19981,348#2310.76
19971,284#2340.74
19961,157#2430.66
1995989#2800.56
19941,062#2650.59
19931,016#2720.56
19921,051#2690.57
19911,102#2540.59
19901,102#2600.58
19891,172#2340.64
19881,227#2120.69
19871,265#2090.73
19861,073#2430.63
19851,200#2140.70
19841,342#2000.80
19831,345#1970.81
19821,427#1930.84
19811,701#1661.0
19801,889#1481.1
1979857#2840.53
1978565#3750.37
1977625#3540.41
1976567#3680.39
1975726#3120.50
1974732#3130.50
1973741#3140.51
1972799#3060.53
1971839#3160.50
1970824#3250.47
1969813#3150.48
1968805#3100.49
1967978#2690.59
19661,064#2590.63
19651,059#2650.60
19641,143#2660.60
19631,273#2490.66
19621,278#2480.65
19611,242#2510.62
19601,235#2480.61
19591,339#2360.66
19581,194#2510.59
19571,320#2320.65
19561,326#2280.66
19551,351#2200.69
19541,489#2060.77
19531,377#2150.73
19521,356#2100.73
19511,035#2410.57
19501,011#2380.59
1949943#2430.55
19481,022#2340.60
1947999#2350.56
19461,013#2260.64
1945882#2170.67
19441,007#2010.76
1943939#2140.67
1942915#2170.68
1941878#2050.73
1940911#1960.80
1939917#1940.84
1938972#1920.88
1937901#1960.85
1936937#1940.90
1935966#1840.92
19341,027#1781.0
1933976#1771.0
1932974#1870.91
1931997#1820.94
1930996#1930.88
1929968#1970.87
19281,023#1970.89
19271,057#1950.89
19261,111#1870.94
19251,197#1841.0
19241,212#1861.0
19231,192#1821.0
19221,131#1880.94
19211,212#1811.0
19201,226#1791.0
19191,124#1781.0
19181,165#1761.0
19171,154#1741.1
19161,130#1701.1
19151,085#1711.1
1914828#1711.1
1913668#1741.1
1912582#1701.0
1911466#1651.1
1910478#1601.2
1909434#1591.2
1908449#1511.3
1907433#1521.4
1906340#1641.2
1905354#1591.2
1904348#1561.3
1903345#1531.3
1902369#1451.4
1901295#1601.2
1900376#1551.3
1899390#1251.7
1898383#1341.5
1897336#1421.4
1896320#1481.3
1895348#1331.5
1894347#1271.6
1893330#1281.5
1892340#1271.6
1891273#1311.5
1890314#1261.6
1889315#1211.8
1888304#1201.7
1887266#1151.8
1886238#1191.6
1885193#1301.5
1884187#1311.4
1883177#1201.6
1882171#1201.6
1881123#1291.3
1880119#1351.3

Download Nina’s births by year (CSV)

Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.

Is Nina a boy’s or a girl’s name?

Nina has been given almost only to girls: 250 boys in 146 years of records.

Girls and boys named Nina: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.

How many people are named Nina, and how old are they?

87,700 alive in 2026, estimated

That is 65% of the 134,038 Americans ever recorded as Nina. The median Nina alive today is 39 years old; half are between 21 and 63.

The 2020 Census counted 96,875 people named Nina (96,725 women and girls, 150 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 88,001 born in the U.S. The Census count is 10% above 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

100-10979
90-991,310
80-894,340
70-798,820
60-6910,400
50-597,230
40-4911,600
30-39 (median)10,900
20-2913,100
10-1911,100
0-98,800

Alive today, by generation

By generation
GenerationBornAlive
Silent Generation1928-19455,000
Baby Boomers1946-196417,900
Generation X1965-198012,900
Millennials1981-199618,800
Generation Z1997-201219,900
Generation Alpha2013-202513,100

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 Nina born?

The states with the most babies named Nina are New York, California and Texas, with 26% of its births recorded by state since 1910.

States with the most births: girls and boys together; rank among girls’ names in the state in 2025
StateSince 1910Rank, girlsvs. national
New York12,312#1611.3×
California11,461#3481.0×
Texas7,994#4560.9×
Illinois6,845#2611.1×
Pennsylvania6,360#2690.9×
Ohio4,865#3130.8×
Florida4,441#2781.1×
Michigan4,374#2510.9×
New Jersey4,195#1841.1×
North Carolina3,978#4381.0×

Where Nina is more common than its national share predicts

Relative to its national share, Nina is most over-represented in District of Columbia: since 1910 it was given 1.4 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.

District of Columbia1.40×
West Virginia1.33×
Arkansas1.30×
New York1.25×
New Jersey1.13×
Illinois1.09×
Florida1.08×

Bars start at 1× (as often as the national share predicts).

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 Nina 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 176,161 babies since 1880, Nina is the most given (76% of them). In 2025 it was given to 946 of their 1,554 babies (61%), again the most given.

Nina and the names spelled alike
NameSince 1880Births 2025Peak year
Nina134,0389461980
Nia25,4324032000
Nya6,006622001
Niya4,790612001
Niyah3,001492003
Niah1,741242013
Nyia676under 51999
Nyana47792007

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.

Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Nina

Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.

NameRecorded1880-2025
Elizabeth1,693,973
Julia477,993
Clare34,510
Corinne49,892
Adela14,105
Zenobia4,592

Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.

More about Nina and names like it

  1. Compare Nina and NiaBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
  2. The most given names of the 1980sNina peaked in 1980.
  3. New York’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Nina since 1910.
  4. The top names of 1980The year the most babies were named Nina.
  5. The names of Generation ZMost people named Nina alive today were born 1997-2012.
  6. Names starting with NMost given first.

Compare Nina with another name