Humanverse

Nailah vs Nailani

American parents have registered 4,848 Nailahs since 1880, against 500 Nailanis. But in 2025 it was Nailani that was commoner, 134 babies to 110.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Nailah against Nailani, 1880 to 2025 0 80 160 240 320 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Nailah Nailani

Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.

Who was ahead

Of the 55 years in which either name was published, Nailah for 54 years and Nailani for 1 year. The lead changed hands once.

Side by side

  Nailah Nailani
Total US births 4,848500
Most in one year 256134
Babies in 2025 110134
Estimated living today 4,800500
Median age today 143
Peak year 20182025
Best rank 1,014th girls1,570th girls
Rank in 2025 1,818th1,570th
First recorded 19712006
Girls / boys 4,848 / 0500 / 0

A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.

Which name is older

Half of the Nailahs alive today are over 14; half the Nailanis are over 3. That is 11 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Where each one is strongest

How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Nailah and Nailani.