How Many People Are Named Nigella?
An estimated 42 people in the United States have the first name Nigella. It is almost exclusively a female name. The average bearer is 17 years old, and Nigella peaked in popularity in 2007 with 9 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Nigella as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Nigella paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- Nigella is exceptionally rare. Fewer than 100 people with this name are estimated to be alive in the U.S. today.
Estimated Living Americans
42
About 1 in 8,160,818 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Very Rare
Predicted Gender
Female
100.0% confidence
Average Age
17
years old
Peak Year
2007
9 births
Total Registered
42
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Nigella
Nigella is almost exclusively a female name. Out of 42 total births registered, 100.0% were female.
Nigella as a female name
Ranked #14,083 in 2015
7 female births in 2015
Peak: 2007 (9 births)
Nigella: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Nigella span from the 2000s to the 2010s, covering 2 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 2000s, when 30 babies were registered. While Nigella is less common than at its peak in the 2000s, it remains a well-established name with steady registrations.
Nigella by Decade
How has Nigella tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
Nigella + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Nigella as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Nigella
Other first names starting with N with a similar number of bearers.
Nigella: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nigella?
We estimate approximately 42 people named Nigella are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 8,160,818 Americans share this first name.
Is Nigella a common name?
Nigella is classified as "Very Rare" and is more popular than 51.7% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 42 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Nigella most popular?
Nigella reached peak popularity in 2007, when 9 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Nigella is approximately 17 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Nigella a female name?
Nigella is predominantly female. 100.0% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Nigella Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Nigella Smith, Nigella Johnson, Nigella Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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