Nikhil
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The story
Nikhil comes from Sanskrit nikhila, whole, entire, or complete. Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake turns that meaning into a quiet literary counterpoint rather than a promise. In the fictional Ganguli family, the National Endowment for the Arts guide explains, a child may have a pet name and a good name. Gogol's good name is Nikhil. He later makes Nikhil his legal name, yet a Library of Congress synopsis notes that Gogol continues to define him too. Changing the form on paper does not neatly complete the person, and the novel never needs the dictionary to predict his life. It uses names to show movement between family intimacy, school, adulthood, and the wish to fit in. That is one character's story, not a census of Bengali families or Indian-American experience. Nikhil carries wholeness in its root while the novel preserves a more human truth: one person can answer to more than one history at once.
How popular is Nikhil around the world?
In the United States, 333 babies were named Nikhil between 2020 and 2025. In South Australia, 1 boy was registered as Nikhil in 2017.
Nikhil is on the official records of the United States, South Australia, Canada, England and Wales and Spain.
United States
1 in 65,000
In the United States, 333 babies were named Nikhil between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Nikhil peaked in the 1990s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
South Australia
1 in 18,0002017
In South Australia, 1 boy was registered as Nikhil in 2017.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Canada
1 in 26,000
In Canada, 14 boys named Nikhil were born in 2024, ranked 1,536th among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
England and Wales
1 in 53,000
In England and Wales, 11 boys named Nikhil were born in 2025, ranked 2,133rd among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Spain
1 in 740,000
In Spain, 61 residents are named Nikhil, ranked 12,405th among men, with a mean age of 27.7 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Austria
last on record 2016
Nikhil is not on the 2025 record for Austria, which publishes every first name down to a single birth, so the name was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
New Zealand
last on record 1998
Nikhil is not on the 2025 record for New Zealand, where names under 10 in a year are excluded at source.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
Scotland
last on record 2013
Nikhil is not on the 2024 record for Scotland, where spellings under 3 in total are suppressed at source.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
Not on the record in Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Ireland and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Nikhil
Most people given the name Nikhil in the United States are teenagers or young adults today.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Nikhil deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Nikhil truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Nikhil fits with your family’s names and surname.
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