Nila

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Hala in SY Syria, US United States, EG Egypt and 17 more, Nilo in PH Philippines, NO Norway, Nilu in IN India and Nil in NG Nigeria.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 4 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Nila is also recorded as 6 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish given name89K records spelled Nila5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Brazil, Peru, Argentina, Venezuela

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese

  Also written Nilá, Níla, Nīlā

• English given name65K records spelled Nila71 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Nigeria, United States, India, Philippines

  Languages: English, Hindi, Swahili

  Also written Nil, Nile, Níl, Nïl, ÑiLå

• Indonesian given name26K records spelled Nila3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, India, Philippines, Malaysia

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written 'Nila

• Ukrainian given name12K records spelled Nila16 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Kazakhstan

  Languages: Ukrainian, Russian, Polish

  Also written Ніла, Нила, Nìla, Нйла

• a separate given name3.7K records spelled Nila5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India, United States, United Kingdom, Bolivia

  Also written Nilă, Nīla, Nīlā, Nilā

• Croatian given name864 records spelled Nila10 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Croatia, United States, India, North Macedonia

  Languages: Croatian, Macedonian, Bulgarian

  Also written Нила, Nilă

44 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Nila is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In Indonesian, a plant which produce blue color, Indigofera suffruticosa

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In English, A unisex given name borne by people in or from India.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Malay, indigo (coloured indigo)

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• name of many men (P); Batukabhairava (N);

  as a name·Sunama Sarit (Hindi) Ten Thousand Sanskrit Names

• In German, weibl. Vom., weibliche Form von

  as a name·DUDEN Lexikon der Vornamen

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 134 years between 1890–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Nila Paskob. 1910UAUkrainian Righteous Among the Nations
• Nila Shemshurinab. 1927UAUkrainian Righteous Among the Nations
• Nila Krjukowab. 1943UAUkrainian actor (1943-2018)
• Nila Herediab. 1943BOBolivian politician
• Nila Moeloekb. 1949IDophthalmologist and 18th Health Minister of Indonesia
• nila northSunb. 1951USAmerican writer and historian
• Nila Madhab Pandab. 1973INIndian film director
• Nila Ibrahimib. 2007AFactivist for the rights of Afghan women and adolescents
• Nila Aaliaactress
• Nīladevīnot in their usual nameHindu goddess of joy and consort of Vishnu

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 883 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Nila?

We estimate roughly 39 thousand people bear Nila (counting its spellings and scripts) across 9 countries in our records.

In which country does Nila have the most bearers?

Nila is most frequently recorded in India, where it is most often spelled nilu.

How common is Nila compared with other names?

In India, Nila is the 823rd most common given name of 4,777,337 given names recorded there.

Is Nila a male or female name?

Nila is recorded for both men and women. We don't publish a percentage split: a record's gender belongs to the person and is attached to every given name on that record, so names in cultures where a name string also carries a parent's or spouse's given name pick up large cross-gender counts.

What does the name Nila mean?

Recorded meaning: dark blue; indigo; sapphire; the Ceylon Hill Mynah (Gracula ptilogenys); the Indian Fig tree (Ficus indica).