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Nihal

#2,970 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

A sapling, offshoot

Nihal has been given to 1,063 babies in the U.S. since 1993. In 2025 it ranked #2,970 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2025, with 42 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 78% boys, 22% girls all-time.

Babies named Nihal, 2025

1 in 78,900

Nihal over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
020406018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Nihal over time

In 2025, Nihal went to 22% girls and 78% boys.

19932025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Nihal: meaning, origin, and history

A sapling, offshoot

Persian

What Nihal means

Nihal means “a sapling, offshoot”, associated with nihāl.

Origin, language, and formation

Nihal is used in Turkish. Its origins include Persian.

Nihal comes through Ottoman Turkish نهال and Persian نهال.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Turkish, Nihal is pronounced /niˈhal/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 825 boys were recorded with the name Nihal between 1993 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 42 in 2025; its best national rank was #2,873 in 2014.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #4,503 in 2020 to #2,970 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #2,899 in 2015 to #2,970 in 2025.

In the United States, 238 girls were recorded with the name Nihal between 1998 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 23 in 2016; its best national rank was #5,745 in 2016.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #9,371 in 2020 to #8,719 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #9,962 in 2015 to #8,719 in 2025.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Nihal?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 78,900
42 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 40,700
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#2,970
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
54,713 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Nihal sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 54,713 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Nihal. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Nihals were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Nihal was born before 2014 — so the typical Nihal is around 11 today.

Median birth year
2014
About 11 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
41.6% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
92.1%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
825
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 41.6% of all recorded uses (343).

Is Nihal rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+62
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+1,533
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
−71
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
1.02×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
100.0%
Peak was 2025 (42)
Years since peak
Peaking now
At its all-time high
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
19.8% average annual change
Best rank ever
#2,873
2014

Spellings of Nihal

Nihal is not the most common spelling — Neal is, with 44.9% against Nihal's 0.67%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Nihal is used — boys

Across 1910–2025, Nihal was most concentrated in California — about 1 in 100,000 boys, against 1 in 253,800 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in —).

01 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in 100,000
  2. 2Illinois1 in —
  3. 3New Jersey1 in —
  4. 4New York1 in —
  5. 5Texas1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Nihal has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Where Nihal is used — girls

Across 1910–2025, Nihal was most concentrated in Minnesota — about 1 in 100,000 girls, against 1 in 174,217 across all states with data.

11 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Minnesota1 in 100,000

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Nihal has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Nihal around the world

Where Nihal ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2025
    #976
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    2008–2017
    #602
    in 2017
  • Ireland
    2014–2014
    #715
    in 2014
  • Canada
    1999–2024
    #376
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    2006–2011
    #487
    in 2011

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Central Statistics Office, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Nihal by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#2,970
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 1,533
Best rank ever
#2,873
2014
Peak year
2025
42 that year
First recorded
1993
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
825
Count in 2025
42

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#8,719
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 652
Best rank ever
#5,745
2016
Peak year
2016
23 that year
First recorded
1998
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
238
Count in 2025
12

Names similar to Nihal

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

NihaalNiharKushalVishalNihaanMychalNihitSahalMichalNihithNihanOthalHershalPaschalMarshalNehalNihadHalOrenthalKaushalMeshalSnehalNihashNishal

Sibling names for Nihal

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Nihal

Top names of 2025, Nihal's peak yearThe 2020s in fullOther names that peaked in 2014Boys' names starting with NShort Turkish Girl Names