unisex name

Nihal

  • Origin Turkish
  • Gender Unisex
  • Letters 5
  • Popularity Uncommon
  • Births on record 3,288

Canada

#376

2024 births

Nihal is a unisex name. It is given to both girls and boys — about 39% of recorded births with this name are girls. In 2025 it was given to 54 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.

  • Nihal is a name of Turkish origin.
  • Peaked in 2016, when 61 babies were given the name.
  • It has been rising over the past decade.
  • Today about 1 in 61,399 babies in the United States is given this name.
  • First appears in US birth records in 1993.

Nihal over time

Births per decade in the United States, 1990s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.

476
'90 '00 '10 '20
Show the numbers
Births named Nihal by decade in the United States
Decade Births
1990s 52
2000s 263
2010s 476
2020s (to 2025) 272

How popular is Nihal?

In 2025, Nihal was given to 54 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.

Where Nihal is used

Canada #376 96 in 2024
Scotland #622 4 in 2017
Ireland #763 3 in 2014
England & Wales #983 37 in 2025
France #1,367 25 in 2025
United States #2,946 54 in 2025

The bar shows how near the top of each country's list the name sits, on a scale where #1 fills the row and #1,000 is a sliver. The figures beside it are the real rank and the babies recorded that year.

US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.

Names that peaked alongside Nihal

These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.

Parents who like Nihal also like

Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Nihal over the last century — the same taste, a different name.

Nihal in other languages

The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.

Other forms
Forms we hold no single language for — some are used across several, some are simply spelled differently.
Nihel

Sibling names for Nihal

Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Nihal — the two things that make a sibling set grate.

Common questions about Nihal

How popular is the name Nihal?

In 2025, Nihal was given to 54 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.

Is Nihal a girl's or a boy's name?

Nihal is used for both girls and boys. About 39% of recorded births with this name are girls.

When was Nihal most popular?

Nihal peaked in 2016, when 61 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.

Is Nihal a good name?

That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Nihal currently ranks #376 in the United States. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.