Nedra
Feminine
Nedra is Arden spelled backwards. That is not a coincidence — it is a documented way of making a name, and English-speaking families have used it for a long time: Nevaeh is heaven reversed, Semaj is James, and a nineteenth-century novel gave Nedra to a heroine on an island. Reversal is one of the few naming methods with no etymology at all by design.
How old is the name Nedra?
Nedra first appears in US birth records in 1906 — 119 years ago. The typical Nedra alive today was born around 1949, making them about 76 years old. About 4,200 people named Nedra are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Nedra most popular?
Nedra peaked in 1941, reaching #518 nationally. See the whole 1941 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Nedra
Making a name by reversing a word is old and quietly persistent. Music-hall performers did it, families did it, and the practice produced a small but real set of American names. Nedra had a specific push as well: a popular novel published at the turn of the last century used it for its heroine, and the name enters American records in numbers immediately afterward. Both facts fit — the method supplied the shape and the book supplied the occasion — and neither excludes the other.
Meaningnot established
Not established
A reversed word has no meaning of its own, and that is the point of the method rather than a shortfall. Arden is an English forest and surname, from a Celtic word for high ground, so the source word has a meaning that the reversal does not inherit — running letters backwards produces a shape, not a word. A separate account treats Nedra as a variant of Edna. Neither can be shown, and the reversal explanation has the advantage of accounting for the exact letters.
Pronouncing Nedra
NEE-druh
NEE-druh, two syllables, stress at the front, the first vowel long. Some say NED-ruh with a short vowel, following Ned rather than the long reading, and both are heard in American use.
Nicknames for Nedra
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
- 1906
- Most girls named
- 1941179 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #518reached in 1941
- Change vs 2011
- +20.0%6 in 2016, from 5
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.
Nedras among us
people named Nedra are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Nedra sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- The reversal is a genuine and rather charming piece of naming history.
- Five letters and two syllables, easy against any surname.
- It is distinctive without being difficult, since every sound in it is ordinary.
- The first vowel can be read long or short and the spelling does not decide.
- There is no meaning to hand over, and a reversed word cannot acquire one.
- The name belongs to an earlier American century and has not returned.
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Nedra
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Nedras are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 4,200 people named Nedra are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Nedra in 2025?
- Nedra is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Nedra with classmates?
- Nedra will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More N names
The most-given names starting with N, all years combined.
Nancy#965 · Nicole#382 · Natalie#89 · Norma#2002 · Nora#20 · Naomi#47 · Nellie#533 · Nina#324
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Nedra? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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