Ndeye
Feminine · “mother”
Ndeye means mother, and in Senegal it is a title rather than a name. It goes in front of a woman's name as a mark of respect, and Ndeye Fatou or Ndeye Astou is one name in two words, exactly as Nana works in Ghana.
How old is the name Ndeye?
Ndeye first appears in US birth records in 1993 — 32 years ago. The typical Ndeye alive today was born around 2008, making them about 17 years old. About 500 people named Ndeye are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Ndeye most popular?
Ndeye peaked in 2003, reaching #4220 nationally. Today it ranks #6838, 2,618 places below that high. See the whole 2003 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From ndey to Ndeye
The story of Ndeye
West African naming makes heavy use of kinship and status terms as name elements: Wolof Ndeye for a mother, Akan Nana for an elder or chief, Yoruba Iya for a mother. They are placed before the personal name and used in address, so a woman called Ndeye Fatou is Ndeye Fatou to everyone, both words together, and neither half is used alone. Senegalese migration to the United States grew from the 1980s, and Wolof names entered American records with it. Ndeye's best year on file is 2003, and its presence as a standalone entry is a consequence of the form design rather than of Wolof usage.
Meaning
mother
Wolof ndey, mother, used as an honorific prefix before women's names in Senegal and the Gambia. It is not a given name on its own in Wolof usage but the first element of a compound; the second element is the name proper. American records, which store what is written in the first-name field, hold it alone.
How the name formed
- ndey
- Ndeye
Related forms: Ndeye · Ndeye
Pronouncing Ndeye
en-DAY
Two syllables. The nd at the start is a single prenasalised consonant in Wolof, a sound English cannot place at the beginning of a word; English speakers insert a vowel before it.
Nicknames for Ndeye
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
- 1993
- Most girls named
- 200331 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #4220reached in 2003
- Change vs 2024
- −27.3%16 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.
Ndeye in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Ndeye in Wolof — same name
- Ndeye in French — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York.
Ndeyes among us
people named Ndeye are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 100,454 born in 2025 was named Ndeye
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 Dalynn test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Ndeye's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Dalynn climbed just as high around 1968, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Dalynn's path sketches the road Ndeye is walking now.
Ndeye 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
Ndeye beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Ndeye in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled meaning and a living honorific tradition behind it.
- Marks a Senegalese or Gambian heritage unmistakably.
- Five letters and, in Wolof, no ambiguity at all.
- In Wolof it is a title placed before a name rather than a name.
- The initial consonant cluster is impossible by English rules.
- Outside Senegalese communities it is entirely unfamiliar in America.
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What they receive
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Ndeye
Feminine · #6838 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Ndeyes 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 Ndeye are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Ndeye in 2025?
- Ndeye ranks #6838 among US girl names in 2025, with 16 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Ndeye?
- About 1 in every 100,454 US girls born in 2025 was named Ndeye — 16 in all.
- Will my child share the name Ndeye with classmates?
- Ndeye will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Ndeye
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Malana#6838 · Jeannie#6838 · Maxie#6838 · Nicol#6838 · Chaney#6838 · Keana#6838 · Concetta#6838 · Pheobe#6838
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Ndeye? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Ndeye and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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