Nakai vs Nakayla
American parents have registered 1,825 Nakaylas since 1880, against 1,132 Nakais. But in 2025 it was Nakai that was commoner, 62 babies to 10.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Nakai Nakayla
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 41 years in which either name was published, Nakayla for 26 years and Nakai for 15 years. The lead changed hands 2 times.
Side by side
| Nakai | Nakayla | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 1,132 | 1,825 |
| Most in one year | 62 | 118 |
| Babies in 2025 | 62 | 10 |
| Estimated living today | 1,100 | 1,800 |
| Median age today | 12 | 20 |
| Peak year | 2025 | 2004 |
| Best rank | 2,258th boys | 1,643rd girls |
| Rank in 2025 | 2,258th | 9,457th |
| First recorded | 1974 | 1988 |
| Girls / boys | 185 / 947 | 1,825 / 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 Nakaylas alive today are over 20; half the Nakais are over 12. That is 8 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
- Nakai New York (4.3×), California (3.4×)
- Nakayla Georgia (4.7×), North Carolina (4.4×), Florida (3.1×)
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: Nakai and Nakayla.