Nadir
Masculine · “rare”
Nadir is Arabic for rare and precious, and it is also the English word for the lowest point — the same Arabic root, taken by European astronomers.
How old is the name Nadir?
Nadir first appears in US birth records in 1975 — 50 years ago. The typical Nadir alive today was born around 2005, making them about 20 years old. About 1,300 people named Nadir are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Nadir most popular?
Nadir peaked in 1998, reaching #2068 nationally. Today it ranks #4396, 2,328 places below that high. See the whole 1998 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Nadir
European astronomy took an enormous amount of vocabulary from Arabic — zenith, nadir, azimuth, almanac, algorithm — because Islamic astronomers preserved and extended Greek work for six centuries. The English nadir is from nazir al-samt, the opposite of the zenith, and is a different word from the name. Nadir Shah ruled Persia in the eighteenth century. The name is used across the Arab world and Iran.
Meaning
rare, precious
From an Arabic root meaning to be rare or scarce; nadir describes something uncommon and valuable. The astronomical nadir is a separate Arabic word, nazir, the opposite point, which European astronomy borrowed with the zenith.
Pronouncing Nadir
NAH-deer
Two syllables, first stressed in Arabic. English speakers say NAY-deer.
Nicknames for Nadir
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1975
- Most boys named
- 200146 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2068reached in 1998
- Change vs 2024
- +4.5%23 in 2025, from 22
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Nadir in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Nadir in Arabic — same name
- Nader in Persian — same name
- Nadir in Turkish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Pennsylvania.
Nadirs among us
people named Nadir are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 74,264 born in 2025 was named Nadir
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Jebediah test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Nadir's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Jebediah climbed just as high around 1978, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Jebediah's path sketches the road Nadir is walking now.
Nadir sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Nadir beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Nadir in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled meaning with a genuinely good sense — rare and valuable.
- Five letters and two syllables, quick to write.
- Recognized across the Arab world, Iran and Turkey.
- The English word nadir means the lowest point, which is an unfortunate coincidence.
- The stress and the first vowel differ between the Arabic and English readings.
- It is close to Nader and Nazir, which are separate Arabic names.
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What they receive
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Nadir
Masculine · #4396 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Nadirs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,300 people named Nadir are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Nadir in 2025?
- Nadir ranks #4396 among US boy names in 2025, with 23 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Nadir?
- About 1 in every 74,264 US boys born in 2025 was named Nadir — 23 in all.
- Will my child share the name Nadir with classmates?
- Nadir will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Nadir
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Odell#4396 · Corwin#4396 · Tennyson#4396 · Marques#4396 · Manu#4396 · Omid#4396 · Zackariah#4396 · Burton#4396
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Nadir? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Nadir and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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