# Nilay (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/nilay/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys and girls |
| Origin | Sanskrit |
| Meaning | “house”, “abode”, “residence” |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 262 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 240 / 22 (8% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 78, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Borrowed from Sanskrit निलय (nilaya, “house, abode, residence”).

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 5 | 19,417 |
| 2022 | 5 | 17,074 |
| 2023 | 7 | 13,088 |
| 2025 | 5 | 16,599 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 7 | 9,846 |
| 2006 | 12 | 6,786 |
| 2007 | 7 | 10,571 |
| 2008 | 6 | 12,136 |
| 2009 | 11 | 7,561 |
| 2010 | 8 | 9,424 |
| 2011 | 11 | 7,357 |
| 2012 | 7 | 10,446 |
| 2013 | 11 | 7,400 |
| 2014 | 8 | 9,378 |
| 2015 | 6 | 11,693 |
| 2016 | 7 | 10,415 |
| 2017 | 8 | 9,446 |
| 2018 | 6 | 11,749 |
| 2025 | 6 | 11,613 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 3 | 3,998 |
| 2010 | 4 | 4,688 |
| 2016 | 5 | 4,096 |
| 2018 | 5 | 3,985 |
| 2019 | 6 | 3,541 |
| 2020 | 3 | 5,493 |
| 2021 | 4 | 4,634 |
| 2024 | 3 | 5,891 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 3 | 2,859 |
| 1999 | 4 | 2,425 |
| 2000 | 4 | 2,501 |
| 2001 | 3 | 3,134 |
| 2003 | 3 | 3,467 |
| 2004 | 4 | 3,009 |
| 2007 | 3 | 4,333 |
| 2009 | 3 | 4,527 |
| 2011 | 4 | 3,830 |
| 2012 | 3 | 4,805 |
| 2013 | 3 | 4,685 |
| 2016 | 5 | 3,478 |
| 2025 | 3 | 5,137 |

## In other languages

- Hindi: निलय

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.