Naman
Masculine · “Sanskrit namana”
Namaste and namaz come from the same root. The Sanskrit verb nam, to bow, gives the Indian greeting and, through Persian, the ordinary word for the five daily prayers of Islam. One gesture, two religions, and a name built on it.
How old is the name Naman?
Naman first appears in US birth records in 1915 — 110 years ago. The typical Naman alive today was born around 2009, making them about 16 years old. About 500 people named Naman are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Naman most popular?
Naman peaked in 1948, reaching #3316 nationally. Today it ranks #8910, 5,594 places below that high. See the whole 1948 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From nam to Naman
The story of Naman
The root nam means to bow or bend, and it is one of the more traveled words in the Indo-Iranian family. Sanskrit namas is a bow or homage, and namas te is homage to you, the greeting. Namaskar is the same idea with a different suffix. The word crossed into Middle Persian and then into New Persian as namaz, where it became the ordinary term for ritual prayer, and it is still the word used for the five daily prayers by Persian, Urdu, Turkish, Bosnian and Malay speakers, in preference to the Arabic salat. So a Hindu greeting and the Muslim word for prayer are the same word, carried in opposite directions by two religions, and both retain the physical sense underneath: what is being named is the act of bending.
Meaningscholars disagree
Sanskrit namana, bowing or salutation
Naman is an Indian name from Sanskrit namana, a bow or salutation, from the root nam, to bend or bow, the same root as in namaste and namaskar. A separate Biblical source exists: Naaman, the Syrian commander cured of leprosy in 2 Kings 5, whose Hebrew name means pleasant. The 1948 American peak is too early to settle which is at work. The peak is 1948.
How the name formed
- nam
- namana
- Naman
Related forms: Naman · Namana · Naaman
Pronouncing Naman
NAH-mun
Two syllables, stress on the first. Hindi says both vowels fully; English reduces the second to a schwa. The Hebrew Naaman has three syllables.
Nicknames for Naman
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
- 1915
- Most boys named
- 201028 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3316reached in 1948
- Change vs 2024
- −61.9%8 in 2025, from 21
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.
Naman in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Naman in Hindi — same name
- Namana in Sanskrit — related form
- Naaman in Hebrew — related form
Namans among us
people named Naman are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 213,510 born in 2025 was named Naman
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Naman 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
Naman beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Naman in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Five letters and two syllables, easy in English.
- The Sanskrit meaning is clear and documented.
- Nam works as a short form.
- Two unrelated traditions produce the same spelling.
- English reduces the second vowel, which Hindi does not.
- It is close to Naaman and Nathan in sound.
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Naman
Masculine · #8910 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Namans are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Naman are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Naman in 2025?
- Naman ranks #8910 among US boy names in 2025, with 8 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Naman?
- About 1 in every 213,510 US boys born in 2025 was named Naman — 8 in all.
- Will my child share the name Naman with classmates?
- Naman will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Naman
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Davie#8910 · Ned#8910 · Darious#8910 · Alois#8910 · Len#8910 · Barton#8910 · Desmon#8910 · Winfield#8910
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Naman? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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