Girl · Welsh (from Irish) and Swahili
Nia
Say it: NEE-ah
Meaning
Two unrelated sources share this spelling: in Wales it is a form of Irish Niamh 'brightness, radiance', and in African American use it comes from Swahili nia 'purpose, intention'.
Likelythe main view, with some doubt.
Nia is the fifth principle of Kwanzaa, created in 1966.
Its wave through time
Popular now
In the United States
- 23,102 babies given this name since 1951
- At its height in 2001, about 1 in 1,800 girls
- 615 babies in 2020
Through the ages
Used by
The family of the name
| Irish | Niamh |
|---|
Famous bearers
- Nia Long, actress
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- Well-known works of literature
- National birth statistics of European countries source
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.