Nkosi
- Gender
- Boy
- Say it
- n-KOH-see
- US rank, 2025
- #9,710 for boys
Nkosi is a boys' name, meaning “lord, chief”. In 2025 it ranked 9,710th for boys in the US (7 babies).
What does Nkosi mean?
Zulu and Xhosa inkosi 'lord, chief'
“lord, chief”
Means lord or chief in Zulu and Xhosa, as in the hymn Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika, now part of South Africa's national anthem.
Is Nkosi a girl's or a boy's name?
Nkosi is a boys' name. In 2025, it was given to 7 boys in the US. Too few girls were given it to be listed.
How popular is Nkosi in the US?
- Rank in 2025
- 9,710th among boys
- Babies in 2025
- 7 about 1 in 240,000 boys
- Five-year trend
- Too rare to call too few babies to tell
- Same name in a class
- under 1% chance among 15 boys
In 2025, 7 boys in the US were named Nkosi, making it the 9,710th most popular name for boys. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 8,734th. Its busiest year was 2001, with 39 boys. It first appears in the records in 1972.
Half of all the boys named Nkosi in the US since 1880 were born between 1993 and 2007, the years shaded on the chart below.
Nkosi in the US, year by year
| Year | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 7 | #9,710 |
| 2024 | 0 | – |
| 2023 | 0 | – |
| 2022 | 7 | #9,815 |
| 2021 | 6 | #10,794 |
| 2020 | 8 | #8,734 |
| 2019 | 13 | #6,401 |
| 2018 | 0 | – |
| 2017 | 7 | #9,691 |
| 2016 | 0 | – |
| 2015 | 6 | #10,638 |
| 2014 | 5 | #12,102 |
| 2013 | 7 | #9,650 |
| 2012 | 8 | #8,858 |
| 2011 | 0 | – |
| 2010 | 7 | #9,686 |
| 2009 | 6 | #10,989 |
| 2008 | 5 | #12,546 |
| 2007 | 8 | #8,909 |
| 2006 | 8 | #8,726 |
| 2005 | 10 | #7,089 |
| 2004 | 10 | #6,970 |
| 2003 | 11 | #6,251 |
| 2002 | 11 | #6,081 |
| 2001 | 39 | #2,485 |
| 2000 | 6 | #9,104 |
| 1999 | 12 | #5,311 |
| 1998 | 7 | #7,553 |
| 1997 | 20 | #3,450 |
| 1996 | 14 | #4,390 |
| 1995 | 14 | #4,274 |
| 1994 | 15 | #4,088 |
| 1993 | 12 | #4,690 |
| 1992 | 11 | #4,864 |
| 1991 | 10 | #5,088 |
| 1990 | 6 | #7,171 |
| 1989 | 9 | #5,158 |
| 1988 | 6 | #6,420 |
| 1987 | 0 | – |
| 1986 | 0 | – |
| 1985 | 0 | – |
| 1984 | 0 | – |
| 1983 | 0 | – |
| 1982 | 7 | #5,001 |
| 1981 | 0 | – |
| 1980 | 0 | – |
| 1979 | 6 | #5,353 |
| 1978 | 8 | #4,155 |
| 1977 | 6 | #5,121 |
| 1976 | 0 | – |
| 1975 | 0 | – |
| 1974 | 0 | – |
| 1973 | 8 | #3,692 |
| 1972 | 8 | #3,620 |
Names like Nkosi
Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.
Omari, Obi, Om, Kwame, Ayomide, Kobe, Nolawi, Nikola, Atom, Tadeo, Tobin, Kamari
Names related to Nkosi
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, “Nkosi: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/nkosi, updated 20 October 2026.