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Nila

#1,754 in 2025Girls' name

Of a dark colour; blue; black

Nila has been given to 7,136 babies in the U.S. since 1890. In 2025 it ranked #1,754 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2022, with 144 recorded.

Babies named Nila, 2025

1 in 28,600

Nila over time, 1880–2025

Girls
05010015018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Nila: meaning, origin, and history

Of a dark colour; blue; black

Russian and Ukrainian

What Nila means

Nila means “of a dark colour; blue; black”, associated with nīla.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

From Sanskrit नील (nīla, “of a dark colour; blue; black”), Bengali নীলা (nila, “blue”), or related words in other Indian subcontinent languages.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Nila (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Nila is used in English. Its origins include Russian and Ukrainian.

Nila comes through Sanskrit नील and Bengali নীলা.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Ни́л.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Nila is pronounced /nilə/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 7,136 girls were recorded with the name Nila between 1890 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 144 in 2022; its best national rank was #567 in 1935.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #1,803 in 2020 to #1,754 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #1,789 in 2015 to #1,754 in 2025.

How common is Nila?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 28,600
116 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 13,900
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#1,754
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
19,811 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Nila sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

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 5002%

Put another way: gather 19,811 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Nila. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Nilas were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Nila was born before 1956 — so the typical Nila is around 69 today.

Median birth year
1956
About 69 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
14.9% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
32.0%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
4,123
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 14.9% of all recorded uses (1,063).

Is Nila 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
−74
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
+49
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+35
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
0.99×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
80.6%
Peak was 2022 (144)
Years since peak
3
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
14.7% average annual change
Best rank ever
#567
1935

Spellings of Nila

Nila is not the most common spelling — Lisa is, with 16.3% against Nila's 0.12%.

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 Nila is used

Across 2016–2025, Nila was most concentrated in California — about 1 in 7,692 girls, against 1 in 14,297 across all states with data. It was least common in Tennessee (1 in 50,000).

213 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in 7,692
  2. 2Indiana1 in 11,111
  3. 3North Carolina1 in 11,111
  4. 4New Jersey1 in 11,111
  5. 5Virginia1 in 11,111
  6. 6Georgia1 in 12,500
  7. 7Pennsylvania1 in 12,500
  8. 8Texas1 in 14,286

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.

Nila around the world

Where Nila 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
    #610
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    2024–2024
    #638
    in 2024
  • Ireland
    2021–2025
    #544
    in 2025
  • France
    1958–2025
    #952
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1997–2024
    #647
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1986–2009
    #818
    in 2009

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Central Statistics Office, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, 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. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Notable people named Nila

People whose public names include Nila, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Nila by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#1,754
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 49
Best rank ever
#567
1935
Peak year
2022
144 that year
First recorded
1890
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
7,136
Count in 2025
116

Names similar to Nila

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

AilaKeilaNilsaNilahTwilaEilaKailaBailaNildaNailaJamilaDalilaNileJailaIlaKilaNiliZoilaHilaDelilaShailaLilaNeilaGila

Names with a curve like Nila

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Nila, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

RosaleePrudenceOfeliaJoellaMaryjaneQueenCoraleeGeorgianaRafaelaRoyceTheodoraAdela

Sibling names for Nila

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 Nila

Top names of 2022, Nila's peak yearThe 2020s in fullOther names that peaked in 1935Girls' names starting with NRiver NamesRussian NamesTamil Girl Names