Nasir
Masculine · Arabic roots · “helper”
Nasir is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 17,917 boys against 54 girls since 1880.
Nasir comes from one of the most productive roots in Arabic, n-ṣ-r, the cluster of letters behind words for help, support and victory. It has been in continuous use for well over a thousand years across Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Turkish, Swahili and Malay, worn by scholars and rulers alike in the compound title Nasir al-Din. Two syllables, an open first vowel and a long stressed second one: nah-SEER carries clearly across a playground.
How old is the name Nasir?
Nasir first appears in US birth records in 1973 — 52 years ago. The typical Nasir is a kid of about 11 — this name's wave is very recent. About 17,500 people named Nasir are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Nasir most popular?
Nasir peaked in 2019, reaching #355 nationally. Today it ranks #486, 131 places below that high. See the whole 2019 chart.
Nasir appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From naṣara (Arabic verb: to help, to give victory) to Nasir
The story of Nasir
Nasir (ناصر) is an Arabic active participle: literally the one who helps or grants victory. It appears in Islamic tradition among the names describing God as helper, and it spread with Arabic across North Africa, Persia, South Asia, the Swahili coast and the Malay world, where it remains an everyday given name and surname. It was especially common in the compound honorific Nasir al-Din, 'helper of the faith', taken by rulers and scholars from the medieval period onward. In the United States the name arrived within living memory rather than through the older waves of European immigration, and its use is concentrated in the East Coast and Southeast.
Meaning
helper, supporter, protector — one who gives victory
From the Arabic root n-ṣ-r, 'to help, to aid, to grant victory'. The closely related Naseer (نصير) sits on the same root and is often translated the same way.
How the name formed
- naṣaraArabic verb: to help, to give victory
- Nāṣirناصر
- Nasir
Related forms: ناصر (Nāṣir) · Nasser · Naseer · Naser · Nasir · Nasira
Pronouncing Nasir
nah-SEER
Stress on the second syllable is the standard Arabic-derived pronunciation and the most common one in the US. Some English speakers default to NAY-zher or NAY-zer on first sight, so expect to correct it occasionally.
Nicknames for Nasir
High
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
- 1973
- Most boys named
- 2019929 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #355reached in 2019
- Change vs 2024
- −12.9%617 in 2025, from 708
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.
Nasir in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- ناصر (Nāṣir) in Arabic — same name
- Nasser in English/Arabic — transliteration
- Naseer in Urdu/English — related form
- Naser in Persian — transliteration
- Nasir in Indonesian/Malay — same name
- Nasira in Arabic (feminine) — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, Georgia, Florida.
Nasirs among us
people named Nasir are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 2,768 born in 2025 was named Nasir
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Nasir
- #486
- Nasir on the 2025 chart
- #360
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Nasir went to 617 boys in 2025, but Nazir, Naasir and Nasiir and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 5 spellings went to 844, which makes it the 360th most-given boys’ name of the year — 126 places above the chart.
- Nasir617
- Nazir202
- Naasir9
- Nasiir9
- Naazir7
About 1 boy in 2,024 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 2,768 for Nasir itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Skylar test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Nasir's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Skylar climbed just as high around 2000, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Skylar's path sketches the road Nasir is walking now.
Nasir 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
Where Nasir is headed
Nasir should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Nasir beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Nasir in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Works unchanged in Arabic, Urdu, Persian, Malay and Swahili contexts — a name that travels without needing a second version.
- A settled, well-documented meaning, which is more than many names can offer.
- Short form Nas is already established and needs no explaining.
- Two syllables, three consonants, six letters: easy to write early and easy to say across accents.
- It shares a root and a sound with several near neighbors — Nasser, Naseer, Naser, and the separate name Nazir — so it will sometimes be spelled or heard as one of those.
- Because transliteration from Arabic allows more than one form, some people will assume your spelling is the variant and theirs the standard. A calm correction usually settles it.
- In the US this name's wave is recent, so nearly all American Nasirs are children or young adults; there is no ready supply of grown namesakes in most neighborhoods.
- The first-sight pronunciation NAY-zher comes up often enough with English speakers that it is worth deciding early how you want it said.
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Nasir
Masculine · Arabic roots · #486 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Nasirs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 17,500 people named Nasir are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Nasir?
- Nasir is the most-used spelling in US records — 617 of the 844 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Nazir, Naasir, Nasiir and Naazir.
- How popular is the name Nasir in 2025?
- Nasir ranks #486 among US boy names in 2025, with 617 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Nasir?
- About 1 in every 2,768 US boys born in 2025 was named Nasir — 617 in all.
- Will my child share the name Nasir with classmates?
- Nasir will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Nasir
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Edgar#486 · Rowen#486 · Hezekiah#485 · Kasen#483 · Asa#483 · Sean#489 · Adan#482 · Arjun#490
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Nasir? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Nasir and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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