Name Awesome

Nile

#1,848 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Meaning and linguistic origin unconfirmed

Nile has been given to 4,066 babies in the U.S. since 1895. In 2025 it ranked #1,848 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2021, with 129 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 91% boys, 9% girls all-time.

Babies named Nile, 2025

1 in 38,500

Nile over time, 1880–2025

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Nile over time

In 2025, Nile went to 9% girls and 91% boys.

18952025

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.

Nile: meaning, origin, and history

Meaning and linguistic origin unconfirmed

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Nile means

Nile is a given name.

The naming story behind Nile

Wikidata records Nile as a male given name. The entity identifier is Q20631734, and the classification was checked on 2026-10-20. The spelling matches a source label or alias exactly, without removing accents or linking it to a name merely because the letters look similar.

A database classification is different from an etymological explanation, so those questions remain open in the short meaning.

A modern root explanation needs an additional naming or linguistic reference.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 3,696 boys were recorded with the name Nile between 1895 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 129 in 2021; its best national rank was #949 in 1896.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #1,773 in 2020 to #1,848 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #2,340 in 2015 to #1,848 in 2025.

In the United States, 370 girls were recorded with the name Nile between 1975 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 30 in 2021; its best national rank was #4,575 in 2021.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #10,070 in 2020 to #11,638 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #7,509 in 2015 to #11,638 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.

How common is Nile?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 38,500
86 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 19,900
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#1,848
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
26,721 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Nile 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 5001%

Put another way: gather 26,721 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Nile. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Niles were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Nile was born before 1996 — so the typical Nile is around 29 today.

Median birth year
1996
About 29 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
17.5% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
44.4%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
2,787
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 17.5% of all recorded uses (648).

Is Nile 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
+100
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
−75
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
+492
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.54×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
66.7%
Peak was 2021 (129)
Years since peak
4
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
22.5% average annual change
Best rank ever
#949
1896

Spellings of Nile

Nile is not the most common spelling — Kyle is, with 23.8% against Nile's 0.18%.

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 Nile is used — boys

Across 2016–2025, Nile was most concentrated in Iowa — about 1 in 3,030 boys, against 1 in 24,197 across all states with data. It was least common in Ohio (1 in 100,000).

133 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Iowa1 in 3,030
  2. 2Georgia1 in 12,500
  3. 3Florida1 in 16,667
  4. 4New York1 in 20,000
  5. 5Pennsylvania1 in 20,000
  6. 6California1 in 25,000
  7. 7Maryland1 in 25,000
  8. 8North Carolina1 in 33,333

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.

Where Nile is used — girls

Across 1910–2025, Nile was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — girls, against 1 in 3,202,555 across all states with data.

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in —

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. Nile has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Nile around the world

Where Nile 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
    #1,359
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    1995–2015
    #686
    in 2015
  • France
    2005–2022
    #6,570
    in 2022
  • Canada
    2012–2024
    #1,964
    in 2024

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques and Statistics Canada. ONS, NRS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Notable people named Nile

People whose public names include Nile, 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.

Nile in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Nile. Linked forms have their own page here.

NilNielNilesNiele

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Nile by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#1,848
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 75
Best rank ever
#949
1896
Peak year
2021
129 that year
First recorded
1895
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
3,696
Count in 2025
86

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#11,638
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 1,568
Best rank ever
#4,575
2021
Peak year
2021
30 that year
First recorded
1975
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
370
Count in 2025
8

Names similar to Nile

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

NilsNilesNiloNilanEmileNilayKileNilsonHaileNilNileshNiltonJamileNilavCecileDanileBasileLileNilmarOrvileLucileMileKaileVasile

Names with a curve like Nile

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

HanselHenriArieArminEdsonThompsonArmonHamptonGentryRansomHollandMaceo

Sibling names for Nile

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 Nile

Top names of 2021, Nile's peak yearThe 2020s in fullOther names that peaked in 1896Boys' names starting with NRiver NamesWater-Inspired Boy Names