Nila
Feminine · “blue”
Nila is blue in Sanskrit — nila, the color of Shiva's throat after he swallowed the poison that surfaced when the ocean was churned.
How old is the name Nila?
Nila first appears in US birth records in 1890 — 135 years ago. The typical Nila alive today was born around 1957, making them about 68 years old. About 4,700 people named Nila are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Nila most popular?
Nila peaked in 1935, reaching #565 nationally. Today it ranks #1747, 1,182 places below that high. See the whole 1935 chart.
Nila appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From nila to Nila
The story of Nila
In the churning of the ocean, Shiva swallows the poison that rises and holds it in his throat, which turns blue. Separately, the Tamil nila means the moon, and Nila is a current name in Tamil-speaking regions. Both routes brought it to America, where Nila appears in the registers and is in current use.
Meaningscholars disagree
blue, dark blue
From the Sanskrit nila, 'dark blue' — the word behind Nilkanth, 'blue-throat', an epithet of Shiva. A second route treats Nila as an Irish name from Niall, or as a Tamil word for the moon. All three are genuine and the modern name draws on more than one.
How the name formed
- nila
- Nila
Related forms: नीला · Nila · Neela
Pronouncing Nila
NEE-lah
Two syllables, stress on the first. Hindi gives both vowels a full value with no reduction.
Nicknames for Nila
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
- 1890
- Most girls named
- 2022144 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #565reached in 1935
- Change vs 2022
- −19.4%116 in 2025, from 144
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.
Nila in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- नीला in Hindi — transliteration
- Nila in Tamil — same name
- Neela in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Nilas among us
people named Nila are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 13,856 born in 2025 was named Nila
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Nila
- #1747
- Nila on the 2025 chart
- #147
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Nila went to 116 girls in 2025, but Nyla, Nylah and Nilah and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 7 spellings went to 2,115, which makes it the 147th most-given girls’ name of the year — 1,600 places above the chart.
and 1 rarer spelling.
About 1 girl in 760 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 13,856 for Nila 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 Evelyne test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Nila's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Evelyne climbed just as high around 1919, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Evelyne's path sketches the road Nila is walking now.
Nila 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 Nila is headed
Nila 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.
Nila beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Nila in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The blue meaning is concrete and the Shiva story behind it is genuinely striking.
- The Tamil moon reading is a second and equally attractive route.
- Four letters, two syllables, and never misheard.
- The origin is split between Sanskrit, Tamil and Irish routes.
- Nyla and Lila are close enough to cause confusion.
- Neela is an equally established transliteration.
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What they receive
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Nila
Feminine · #1747 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Nilas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 4,700 people named Nila are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Nila?
- Nila is one of 6 recorded spellings. Nyla is the more common one — 1,315 births in 2025 against 116 for Nila.
- How popular is the name Nila in 2025?
- Nila ranks #1747 among US girl names in 2025, with 116 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Nila?
- About 1 in every 13,856 US girls born in 2025 was named Nila — 116 in all.
- Will my child share the name Nila with classmates?
- Nila will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Nila
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Lynlee#1747 · Myah#1747 · Samaya#1747 · Nazaria#1747 · Callahan#1747 · Ahlani#1747 · Lucinda#1747 · Senna#1747
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Nila? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Nila and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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