Neha
Feminine · “Love”
Neha is love in Hindi — not romantic love specifically but affection, the warmth between people who are attached to each other. It is one of the short modern Indian names that became ordinary across the north in the second half of the twentieth century.
How old is the name Neha?
Neha first appears in US birth records in 1969 — 56 years ago. The typical Neha alive today was born around 2002, making them about 23 years old. About 4,300 people named Neha are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Neha most popular?
Neha peaked in 2000, reaching #966 nationally. Today it ranks #5554, 4,588 places below that high. See the whole 2000 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From sneha to Neha
The story of Neha
Sneha is the Sanskrit word and remains a name in its own right in southern India; Hindi dropped the initial s in ordinary speech and produced neh, and Neha is the name built on it. It became very common in north India through the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, one of the short two-syllable names — Neha, Priya, Pooja, Ritu, Kavita — that dominated that generation. American records show it from the 1970s with Indian professional migration and a peak in 2000, tracking the community rather than any single event.
Meaning
Love, affection
From Hindi neh or sneh, affection or love, from Sanskrit sneha, which carries both the sense of affection and, literally, of oiliness or unctuousness — the metaphor of something that binds and softens. The reading is settled in Hindi usage. A separate Arabic gloss offered on some sites is not supported.
How the name formed
- sneha
- neh
- Neha
Related forms: नेहा · स्नेह · नेहा
Pronouncing Neha
NAY-hah
Two syllables, stress on the first, with the h fully sounded between the vowels. English speakers sometimes say NEE-ha, giving the first vowel a long e, which is not the Hindi sound.
Nicknames for Neha
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
- 2004223 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #966reached in 2000
- Change vs 2024
- +4.8%22 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.
Neha in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- नेहा in Hindi — transliteration
- स्नेह in Sanskrit — related form
- नेहा in Marathi — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Washington, Texas.
Nehas among us
people named Neha are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 73,058 born in 2025 was named Neha
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 Jacqulyn test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Neha's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Jacqulyn climbed just as high around 1952, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Jacqulyn's path sketches the road Neha is walking now.
Neha 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
Neha beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Neha 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 settled, short and about as warm as a meaning gets.
- Four letters and two open syllables travel anywhere.
- Every sound in it exists in English.
- English speakers regularly give the first vowel the wrong value.
- It is unfamiliar outside Indian communities and will be spelled out.
- Neha and Niha are both in transliteration use.
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What they receive
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Neha
Feminine · #5554 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Nehas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 4,300 people named Neha are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Neha in 2025?
- Neha ranks #5554 among US girl names in 2025, with 22 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Neha?
- About 1 in every 73,058 US girls born in 2025 was named Neha — 22 in all.
- Will my child share the name Neha with classmates?
- Neha will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Neha
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Eda#5554 · Phebe#5554 · Felicia#5554 · Audie#5554 · Maryellen#5554 · Warren#5554 · Ruthann#5554 · Nettie#5554
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Neha? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Neha and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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