Nigeria
- Gender
- Girl
- Say it
- nye-JEER-ee-a
- US rank, 2025
- #14,937 for girls
Nigeria is a girls' name. In 2025 it ranked 14,937th for girls in the US (5 babies).
What does Nigeria mean?
Country name, coined in English from the River Niger
The country's name was coined in the 1890s by the British journalist Flora Shaw, from the River Niger.
Is Nigeria a girl's or a boy's name?
Nigeria is a girls' name. In 2025, it was given to 5 girls in the US. Too few boys were given it to be listed.
How popular is Nigeria in the US?
- Rank in 2025
- 14,937th among girls
- Babies in 2025
- 5 about 1 in 320,000 girls
- Five-year trend
- Too rare to call too few babies to tell
- Same name in a class
- under 1% chance among 15 girls
In 2025, 5 girls in the US were named Nigeria, making it the 14,937th most popular name for girls. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 15,083rd. Its busiest year was 2000, with 58 girls. It first appears in the records in 1975.
Half of all the girls named Nigeria in the US since 1880 were born between 1994 and 2005, the years shaded on the chart below.
Nigeria in the US, year by year
| Year | Girls | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 5 | #14,937 |
| 2024 | 0 | – |
| 2023 | 0 | – |
| 2022 | 10 | #9,674 |
| 2021 | 8 | #11,141 |
| 2020 | 5 | #15,083 |
| 2019 | 0 | – |
| 2018 | 7 | #12,459 |
| 2017 | 5 | #15,898 |
| 2016 | 7 | #12,871 |
| 2015 | 8 | #11,830 |
| 2014 | 10 | #10,124 |
| 2013 | 7 | #13,145 |
| 2012 | 8 | #12,193 |
| 2011 | 5 | #16,756 |
| 2010 | 11 | #9,786 |
| 2009 | 12 | #9,375 |
| 2008 | 17 | #7,404 |
| 2007 | 24 | #5,706 |
| 2006 | 28 | #4,952 |
| 2005 | 27 | #4,824 |
| 2004 | 25 | #5,058 |
| 2003 | 34 | #3,942 |
| 2002 | 24 | #4,902 |
| 2001 | 50 | #2,877 |
| 2000 | 58 | #2,565 |
| 1999 | 40 | #3,185 |
| 1998 | 45 | #2,886 |
| 1997 | 40 | #2,974 |
| 1996 | 45 | #2,710 |
| 1995 | 34 | #3,280 |
| 1994 | 28 | #3,785 |
| 1993 | 20 | #4,820 |
| 1992 | 23 | #4,375 |
| 1991 | 17 | #5,393 |
| 1990 | 16 | #5,544 |
| 1989 | 14 | #5,830 |
| 1988 | 12 | #6,272 |
| 1987 | 9 | #7,348 |
| 1986 | 5 | #10,907 |
| 1985 | 5 | #10,672 |
| 1984 | 8 | #7,396 |
| 1983 | 10 | #6,210 |
| 1982 | 9 | #6,886 |
| 1981 | 0 | – |
| 1980 | 10 | #6,318 |
| 1979 | 6 | #9,008 |
| 1978 | 9 | #6,384 |
| 1977 | 5 | #9,650 |
| 1976 | 0 | – |
| 1975 | 5 | #9,065 |
Names like Nigeria
Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.
Natalia, Olivia, Alivia, Sophia, Ariana, Nadia, Victoria, Isabella, Amelia, Nathalia, Brianna, Eliana
Names related to Nigeria
Sources
Figures from Popular Baby Names (US Social Security Administration). Nameling last updated them on 20 October 2026. How the figures are worked out, and the data to download.
To cite this page: Nameling, “Nigeria: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/nigeria, updated 20 October 2026.