Nirav
Masculine · “silent”
Nirav is a small piece of Sanskrit grammar in action. The parts are nis, without, and rava, sound; the s meets the r and becomes an r itself, giving nir-, and the whole comes out as Nirav. The sound change is a rule, not an accident, and it happened before the word was ever a name.
How old is the name Nirav?
Nirav first appears in US birth records in 1972 — 53 years ago. The typical Nirav alive today was born around 1991, making them about 34 years old. About 500 people named Nirav are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Nirav most popular?
Nirav peaked in 1984, reaching #2364 nationally. Today it ranks #6446, 4,082 places below that high. See the whole 1984 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From nis rava to Nirav
The story of Nirav
Sanskrit compounds words according to strict rules of junction called sandhi, which reshape the sounds at the seam so that the join is pronounceable; the same rules operate across word boundaries in recitation, which is why Sanskrit verse runs together the way it does. Nirav is a compound of exactly that kind, and its modern form preserves the change. The name is used most in Gujarat and Maharashtra and reached the United States with Indian professional migration from the 1970s. Its best American year is 1984, which places it with the first substantial generation of American-born children in that community.
Meaning
silent, soundless, quiet
Sanskrit nirava, from nis, without, and rava, sound, noise or cry. The junction of the two words follows the regular sandhi rules that govern how Sanskrit words combine, which turn the s into an r before a voiced consonant. The sense is quiet or noiseless, and it is chosen as a name for the calm it implies rather than for silence itself.
How the name formed
- nis rava
- nirava
- Nirav
Related forms: Nirav · Nirav · Nirava
Pronouncing Nirav
nih-RAHV
Two syllables with the stress at the end and a full open a in the second. English speakers often front-stress it as NEE-rav, which is the ordinary adaptation.
Nicknames for Nirav
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
- 1972
- Most boys named
- 198421 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2364reached in 1984
- Change vs 2024
- +116.7%13 in 2025, from 6
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.
Nirav in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Nirav in Gujarati — same name
- Nirav in Hindi — same name
- Nirava in Sanskrit — transliteration
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas.
Niravs among us
people named Nirav are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 131,390 born in 2025 was named Nirav
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 Evelio test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Nirav's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Evelio climbed just as high around 1962, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Evelio's path sketches the road Nirav is walking now.
Nirav 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
Nirav beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Nirav in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled Sanskrit meaning with a transparent two-part structure.
- Five letters, two syllables, and easy for English speakers to say.
- Rare in the United States while being ordinary in western India.
- The stress belongs at the end and English speakers will move it.
- Neerav and Nirav are both standard transliterations.
- Outside Indian communities the name is unfamiliar and will always be spelled aloud.
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What they receive
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Nirav
Masculine · #6446 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Niravs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Nirav are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Nirav in 2025?
- Nirav ranks #6446 among US boy names in 2025, with 13 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Nirav?
- About 1 in every 131,390 US boys born in 2025 was named Nirav — 13 in all.
- Will my child share the name Nirav with classmates?
- Nirav will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Nirav
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Rollie#6446 · Billie#6446 · Worth#6446 · Blas#6446 · Starling#6446 · Alvis#6446 · Elwyn#6446 · Rollin#6446
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Nirav? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Nirav and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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