Nefertiti
Feminine · “Egyptian”
Nobody knows how the Egyptians said this name. Egyptian writing recorded consonants and left the vowels out, so every Egyptian name in a modern book is a convention agreed among Egyptologists. The written form is nfr.t jj.tj; the vowels in Nefertiti were supplied in the nineteenth century.
How old is the name Nefertiti?
Nefertiti first appears in US birth records in 1969 — 56 years ago. The typical Nefertiti alive today was born around 1993, making them about 32 years old. About 900 people named Nefertiti are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Nefertiti most popular?
Nefertiti peaked in 1980, reaching #2749 nationally. Today it ranks #8860, 6,111 places below that high. See the whole 1980 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From nfr.t jj.tj to Nefertiti
The story of Nefertiti
The bust of Nefertiti was excavated at Amarna in 1912 and displayed in Berlin from 1924, and it became one of the two or three most reproduced objects of the ancient world. But the name's American curve is not driven by the bust. It rises with the Treasures of Tutankhamun exhibition, which toured the United States from 1976 to 1979, drew about eight million visitors, and made Egyptian antiquity a mass American subject for the first time since the 1920s. The name peaks in 1980, immediately after the tour closed. That lag of one to two years behind a cultural event is the standard shape for a museum or film cause, and it separates such causes cleanly from fashions, which take a decade to climb. Nefertiti was Akhenaten's queen and probably ruled in her own right after his death.
Meaning
Egyptian, the beautiful one has come
The name is written with the signs for nfr, beautiful or perfect, with a feminine ending, plus a verb of coming, and is read as the beautiful one has come. The reading of the sense is secure; the pronunciation is not, because Egyptian script omitted vowels entirely. Modern Egyptological convention inserts a short e between consonants as a working convenience, which is why so many Egyptian names in English contain e and almost nothing else. The American peak is 1980.
How the name formed
- nfr.t jj.tj
- Nefertiti
Related forms: Nofretete · Nafartiti
Pronouncing Nefertiti
nef-er-TEE-tee
Four syllables, stress on the third. German uses Nofretete, a different convention for the same consonants. Neither is the ancient pronunciation, which is unrecoverable.
Nicknames for Nefertiti
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
- 1969
- Most girls named
- 198033 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2749reached in 1980
- Change vs 2024
- +22.2%11 in 2025, from 9
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.
Nefertiti in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Nofretete in German — transliteration
- Nafartiti in Arabic — transliteration
Nefertitis among us
people named Nefertiti are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 146,115 born in 2025 was named Nefertiti
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 Ladora test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Nefertiti's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Ladora climbed just as high around 1931, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Ladora's path sketches the road Nefertiti is walking now.
Nefertiti 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
Nefertiti beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Nefertiti in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is documented and unusually vivid.
- It refers to one of the most recognizable figures in world history.
- The rhythm is even and the sounds are all easy in English.
- Five syllables of spelling for a very well-known single figure.
- The pronunciation is a modern convention, not the original.
- The 1980 peak ties it to one museum tour.
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What they receive
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Nefertiti
Feminine · #8860 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Nefertitis are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 900 people named Nefertiti are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Nefertiti in 2025?
- Nefertiti ranks #8860 among US girl names in 2025, with 11 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Nefertiti?
- About 1 in every 146,115 US girls born in 2025 was named Nefertiti — 11 in all.
- Will my child share the name Nefertiti with classmates?
- Nefertiti will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Nefertiti
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Lida#8860 · Lauretta#8860 · Dot#8860 · Bonita#8860 · Benita#8860 · Trixie#8860 · Adna#8860 · Sue#8860
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Nefertiti? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Nefertiti and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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