Humanverse

Nyia vs Nyisha

American parents have registered 676 Nyias since 1880, against 532 Nyishas. Neither name reached five babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Nyia against Nyisha, 1880 to 2025 0 13 25 38 50 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Nyia Nyisha

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 47 years in which either name was published, Nyia for 28 years and Nyisha for 19 years. The lead changed hands 3 times.

Side by side

  Nyia Nyisha
Total US births 676532
Most in one year 4432
Babies in 2025 under 5under 5
Estimated living today 670520
Median age today 2538
Peak year 19991980
Best rank 2,991st girls2,800th girls
Rank in 2025 unrankedunranked
First recorded 19761973
Girls / boys 671 / 5532 / 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 Nyishas alive today are over 38; half the Nyias are over 25. That is 13 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Compare something else

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