Nihal

Used for both boys and girlsStatistical record

What official birth registration shows about Nihal: which national registrars published it, in which years, and how its recorded position changed.

No researched meaning, origin or pronunciation yet — what that means.

Nihal: Recorded since 1996, it reached #692 in 2013, and it stood at #721 in 2024.

2registrars recorded it
49times a registrar ranked it
29years from first to last
#692highest recorded position
11groupings it qualifies for

Region

Falling

among girls in England and Wales · 1998–2024

View as table

England and Wales · Girls rank by year
Year	Rank
1998	#3848
2000	#3912
2004	#3725
2007	#5201
2008	#4524
2009	#5556
2010	#4012
2011	#1545
2012	#2717
2013	#4739
2014	#4684
2015	#5730
2017	#2706
2018	#5666
2019	#2869
2020	#3117
2021	#5581
2022	#2888
2023	#5687
2024	#4192

VerifiedSource: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales.Confidence: high.

See all England and Wales names · Source: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales

What the data shows

FallingEngland and Wales · Girls

Recorded in official data among boys in England and Wales in 28 of the 29 years from 1996 to 2024.

In 2014: #715 among boys in Republic of Ireland, #1223 among boys in England and Wales.

Official data from 2 national registrars across 2 regions, 1996–2024 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1996
First recorded at #2863 among boys in England and Wales in 1996 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
England and Wales · Boys
Highest recorded1996–2024
Highest recorded position: #692 among boys in England and Wales, in 2013 (recorded 1996–2024).
England and Wales · Boys
Most recent2024
Most recently recorded at #4192 among girls in England and Wales, in 2024.
England and Wales · Girls

Nihal appears in 2 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is England and Wales · Boys, which has ranked it in 28 years beginning in 1996, and has registered 604 births with the name.

Nihal across 2 official records

Each registrar publishes its own list, so these figures are read down a row, never across one. A position in one country is not comparable with a position in another, and Namewise never combines them into a single ranking. The birth counts do not compare across rows either, for a different reason: England and Wales registers roughly thirty times as many births a year as Northern Ireland, so a larger total says which registrar recorded it as much as how widely the name was given.

Nihal's first, highest and most recent recorded position in each official list, with the number of births each registrar registered with the name and its largest single year
Published list	First recorded	Highest	Most recent	Years recorded	Births registered	Most in one year
England and Wales · Boys	#2863 (1996)	#692 (2013)	#721 (2024)	28 of 29	604 (1996–2024)	49 (2024)
England and Wales · Girls	#3848 (1998)	#1545 (2011)	#4192 (2024)	20 of 27	110 (1998–2024)	19 (2011)

Nihal by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Births registered with the name in each decade of this one list, with the number of years the list covers in that decade. Bars are scaled on births a year, which is the figure that compares between decades — a decade the list only partly covers has a smaller total without being a quieter decade. Figures belong to this registrar alone and do not carry to another.

Births registered with Nihal in England and Wales · Boys, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1990s	12	3 of 10	4
2000s	168	10 of 10	17
2010sbusiest	293	10 of 10	29
2020s	131	5 of 10	26

Across England and Wales · Boys, the 2010s were its busiest decade, averaging 29 births a year.

Its sharpest single-year move came between 2013 and 2014, when recorded births fell by 26, from 47 to 21.

See the names England and Waleshas recorded the most births with →

Nihal appears in

Groupings this name qualifies for under their own stated rules, from the same official statistics shown above.

Popularity data

Official popularity data is available for 2 regions, from 1996 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #692 in England and Wales in 2013.

Nihal's recorded popularity observations by year, region and administrative category, including rank, registered births, source confidence and when each region's data was last reviewed.
Year	Region	Category	Rank	Births registered	Confidence	Status
2024	England and Wales	female	#4192	5	High	Verified
2024	England and Wales	male	#721	49	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	female	#5687	3	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	male	#1139	25	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	female	#2888	8	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	male	#1366	19	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	female	#5581	3	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	male	#1448	17	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	female	#3117	7	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	male	#1230	21	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	female	#2869	8	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	male	#1083	25	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	female	#5666	3	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	male	#1158	23	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	female	#2706	9	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	male	#1146	24	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	male	#1234	22	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	female	#5730	3	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	male	#873	35	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	female	#4684	4	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	male	#1223	21	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	female	#4739	4	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	male	#692	47	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	female	#2717	9	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	male	#1051	26	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	female	#1545	19	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	male	#907	32	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	female	#4012	5	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	male	#774	38	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	female	#5556	3	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	male	#760	38	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	female	#4524	4	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	male	#1048	24	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	female	#5201	3	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	male	#987	25	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	male	#1016	22	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	male	#1377	14	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	female	#3725	4	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	male	#1878	8	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	male	#1326	12	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	male	#1799	7	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	male	#1286	11	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	female	#3912	3	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	male	#1703	7	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	male	#2097	5	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	female	#3848	3	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	male	#2419	4	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	male	#2863	3	High	Verified
2014	Republic of Ireland	male	#715	3	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
Republic of Ireland hub — collected by CSO Ireland

See methodology and data sources for how popularity data is collected and what "confidence" means.

What the record shows

Recorded by 2 registrars between 1996 and 2024, ranked in 28 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #692, first reached in 2013.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 49 births, registered in England and Wales in 2024.

1 registrar publishes it in more than one category list, holding a place in each for at least five years — an observation about those lists rather than about the name.

Its record falls into 2 separate stretches, with a longest absence of 1 year.

A second registrar first ranked it in 2014, and 18 years separate the first registrar to record it from the last.

Every figure here is counted from the seven official registrars Namewise holds. A position is only ever a place within the list that published it, and a record that thins or stops is a fact about what registrars printed — never about how many children received the name.

Where to go next

Records with a comparable body of evidence, so the catalogue can be read outward from this one. Each group states the rule it was selected by.

Next in the catalogue

The records either side of this one alphabetically.

Nigel · #27, 69y
Nihaal · #1322, 22y
Nihan · #785, 9y
Niharika · #3598, 18y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 2 registrars, over a similar number of ranked years, whose highest position is closest to this one. A similar body of evidence — never a claim that the names themselves are alike.

Bonita · #689, 29y
Ella-Marie · #689, 26y
Hajra · #695, 29y
Latifa · #689, 29y

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1990 and 1999.

Jujhar · #691, 23y
Mert · #691, 29y
Ahsan · #694, 29y
Azeem · #694, 29y

Nihal was ranked #692 in England and Wales · Boys in 2013. These are the names immediately either side of it on that published list — a fact about the registrar's own output, not a similarity judgement.

Nihal and the names beside it

Two names in the same published list are measured on the same scale, in the same year, by the same registrar — so these are positions that genuinely passed each other, not a similarity judgement. Drawn from the 2,573 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Nihal without appearing here.

Nihal moved ahead of

Kristine Compare
In 2016 they stood at #5730 and #3252 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2017 that had become #2706 and #5765.
Debra Compare
In 2019 they stood at #4684 and #4684 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2020 that had become #3117 and #5493.
Joakim Compare
In 2000 they stood at #2863 and #2863 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2001 that had become #1286 and #3134.
Malin Compare
In 2000 they stood at #2863 and #2863 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2001 that had become #1286 and #3134.

Moved ahead of Nihal

Noah Compare
In 2017 they stood at #2706 and #3583 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2018 that had become #5666 and #2499.
Fiadh Compare
In 2014 they stood at #4684 and #5691 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2015 that had become #5730 and #2705.
Rory Compare
In 2019 they stood at #2869 and #4001 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2020 that had become #3117 and #1939.
Arlo Compare
In 2001 they stood at #1286 and #1949 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2002 that had become #1799 and #848.

Moved the opposite way to Nihal

Aaron Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Nihal went from #2863 to #721 while Aaron went from #33 to #154.
Adam Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Nihal went from #2863 to #721 while Adam went from #16 to #35.
Alan Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Nihal went from #2863 to #721 while Alan went from #163 to #592.
Alex Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Nihal went from #2863 to #721 while Alex went from #43 to #171.

Moved the same way as Nihal

Albie Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Nihal went from #2863 to #721 and Albie from #853 to #19.
Alfie Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Nihal went from #2863 to #721 and Alfie from #119 to #16.
Alfred Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Nihal went from #2863 to #721 and Alfred from #218 to #81.
Archie Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Nihal went from #2863 to #721 and Archie from #192 to #10.

What's not yet available

Meaning
Origin
Pronunciation
Nicknames and spelling variants

Absence from this list does not mean the name isn't genuinely meaningful or widely used — only that Namewise hasn't sourced and reviewed that content yet. Absence from a specific year or geography above does not prove zero use there either; official statistics only publish names above a minimum threshold.

Official popularity data is available for 2 regions, from 1996 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #692 in England and Wales in 2013. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Nihal

Nihal at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Nihal across 2 official records

Nihal by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Nihal appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Names published alongside Nihal

Nihal and the names beside it

Nihal moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Nihal

Moved the opposite way to Nihal

Moved the same way as Nihal

Nihal at a glance

Nihal across 2 official records

Nihal by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Nihal appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Names published alongside Nihal

Nihal and the names beside it

Nihal moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Nihal

Moved the opposite way to Nihal

Moved the same way as Nihal