Nihal
Masculine · “young plant”
Nihal is given to both — 825 boys and 238 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Nihal is a sapling in Persian — a young plant, newly set. Arabic has its own nihal from a different root about drinking one's fill, and Hindi took the Persian word and made it mean contented. Three languages, three readings, one spelling.
How old is the name Nihal?
Nihal first appears in US birth records in 1993 — 32 years ago. The typical Nihal is a kid of about 11 — this name's wave is very recent. About 800 people named Nihal are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Nihal most popular?
Nihal peaked in 2014, reaching #2847 nationally. Today it ranks #2941, 94 places below that high. See the whole 2014 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From nihal to Nihal
The story of Nihal
Persian supplied a great deal of the poetic and administrative vocabulary of northern India and Turkey, and nihal traveled with it. In Urdu poetry a nihal is the image of something young and growing, and the extended sense — flourishing, therefore content — became the everyday one. The name is used in Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and India, for sons in South Asia and more often for daughters in Turkey. It reaches United States records from all of those.
Meaningscholars disagree
young plant, sapling — in Persian; contented — in Hindi
Persian nihal names a sapling or a young tree, and that is the reading behind most South Asian use. Hindi and Urdu extended it to mean prosperous, flourishing or contented, which is a natural step from a thriving plant. Arabic nihal is separate: a plural from the root behind nahla, a drink of water. Turkish uses the Persian word as a woman's name. All three are documented and the spelling does not distinguish them.
How the name formed
- nihal
- Nihal
Related forms: نهال · Nihal · Nihal · Nihal
Pronouncing Nihal
ni-HAAL
Two syllables with the stress on the second and a long open a at the end. The h is fully sounded between the vowels. English speakers often say NY-hal, giving the first vowel an English long i, which is a different sound.
Nicknames for Nihal
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 boys named
- 202542 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2847reached in 2014
- Change vs 2024
- +2.4%42 in 2025, from 41
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.
Nihal in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- نهال in Persian — transliteration
- Nihal in Turkish — same name
- Nihal in Hindi — same name
- Nihal in Urdu — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New Jersey.
Nihals among us
people named Nihal are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 40,668 born in 2025 was named Nihal
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Nihal
- #2941
- Nihal on the 2025 chart
- #861
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Nihal went to 42 boys in 2025, but Nihaal is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 67, which makes it the 861st most-given boys’ name of the year — 2,080 places above the chart.
- Nihal42
- Nihaal25
About 1 boy in 25,494 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 40,668 for Nihal 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 Shadrach test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Nihal's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Shadrach climbed just as high around 1994, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Shadrach's path sketches the road Nihal is walking now.
Nihal 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 Nihal is headed
Nihal 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.
Nihal beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Nihal in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A concrete and lovely meaning — a young growing tree — rather than an abstraction.
- Five letters, no silent ones, and readable at first sight in English.
- Used across Persian, Turkish, Hindi and Urdu naming, which is an unusually wide reach.
- In Turkey it is a woman's name, which comes up in mixed settings.
- English speakers reach for NY-hal until corrected.
- Its meaning depends on which of three languages the family means.
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What they receive
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Nihal
Masculine · #2941 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Nihals are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 800 people named Nihal are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Nihal?
- Nihal is the most-used spelling in US records — 42 of the 67 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Nihaal.
- How popular is the name Nihal in 2025?
- Nihal ranks #2941 among US boy names in 2025, with 42 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Nihal?
- About 1 in every 40,668 US boys born in 2025 was named Nihal — 42 in all.
- Will my child share the name Nihal with classmates?
- Nihal will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Nihal
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Prescott#2941 · Kwame#2941 · Michelangelo#2941 · Jahan#2941 · Kairi#2941 · Yonah#2941 · Lakai#2941 · Reyes#2941
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Nihal? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Nihal and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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