Nzinga
- Gender
- Girl
- Say it
- NZING-ga
Nzinga is a girls' name, meaning “to twist, to turn”. Too few babies were given it in the latest year to rank.
What does Nzinga mean?
Kimbundu name from Angola, from kujinga 'to twist, to turn'
“to twist, to turn”
Nzinga Mbande, queen of Ndongo and Matamba in what is now Angola, resisted Portuguese colonisation in the 17th century.
Is Nzinga a girl's or a boy's name?
Nzinga is a girls' name.
How popular is Nzinga in the US?
No girls in the US were given it in 2025, or too few to be listed. Its busiest year was 1979, with 15 girls. It first appears in the records in 1972.
Half of all the girls named Nzinga in the US since 1880 were born between 1979 and 2000, the years shaded on the chart below.
Nzinga in the US, year by year
| Year | Girls | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 10 | #9,557 |
| 2020 | 5 | #15,083 |
| 2019 | 6 | #13,793 |
| 2018 | 8 | #11,422 |
| 2017 | 5 | #15,898 |
| 2016 | 5 | #16,210 |
| 2015 | 7 | #13,001 |
| 2014 | 0 | – |
| 2013 | 0 | – |
| 2012 | 0 | – |
| 2011 | 0 | – |
| 2010 | 0 | – |
| 2009 | 0 | – |
| 2008 | 0 | – |
| 2007 | 5 | #17,630 |
| 2006 | 0 | – |
| 2005 | 0 | – |
| 2004 | 0 | – |
| 2003 | 7 | #12,401 |
| 2002 | 9 | #10,240 |
| 2001 | 6 | #13,514 |
| 2000 | 13 | #7,574 |
| 1999 | 8 | #10,338 |
| 1998 | 9 | #9,254 |
| 1997 | 10 | #8,329 |
| 1996 | 6 | #11,801 |
| 1995 | 10 | #8,074 |
| 1994 | 13 | #6,666 |
| 1993 | 12 | #7,031 |
| 1992 | 7 | #10,471 |
| 1991 | 12 | #6,969 |
| 1990 | 5 | #12,952 |
| 1989 | 0 | – |
| 1988 | 5 | #11,792 |
| 1987 | 9 | #7,348 |
| 1986 | 0 | – |
| 1985 | 7 | #8,315 |
| 1984 | 7 | #8,149 |
| 1983 | 9 | #6,703 |
| 1982 | 7 | #8,222 |
| 1981 | 10 | #6,321 |
| 1980 | 11 | #5,911 |
| 1979 | 15 | #4,625 |
| 1978 | 7 | #7,647 |
| 1977 | 12 | #5,212 |
| 1976 | 8 | #6,609 |
| 1975 | 14 | #4,368 |
| 1974 | 10 | #5,359 |
| 1973 | 6 | #7,433 |
| 1972 | 10 | #5,108 |
Names like Nzinga
Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.
Dakota, Yuri, Mika, Yumi, Kori, Yuna, Yumna, Suki, Xuri, Namiko, Rikki, Tru
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, “Nzinga: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/nzinga, updated 20 October 2026.