Boy names that start with N
N carries one of the two or three most-used boy names in America and a long tail of almost nothing else. Noah sits near the very top of the U.S. list; behind it come the Igbo sentence-names like Nnamdi, the Hawaiian nature words, and seven European spellings of Nicholas. Every entry below links to a full page with meaning, origin, and pairings.
Most popular N names right now
Only three N names appear in the current U.S. Social Security top 100. These are their real positions — no other N name on this page carries a number, because no other N name has earned one.
- #2NoahNOH-uhHebrew
Rest, repose, and by extension comfort. It has sat at or near the top of the American list for more than a decade, and it does the rare thing of sounding gentle without sounding soft.
- #63NathanNAY-thunHebrew
He gave; a gift. The prophet Nathan is the man who walked into David's court and told him he had done wrong, which gives a mild name an unexpected spine.
- #65NolanNOH-lunIrish
Descendant of the champion, from Ó Nualláin. An Irish surname that turned into a first name and now outranks most of the given names it grew up beside.
Classic N names
- Nathanielnuh-THAN-yulHebrew
God has given — the fuller, older brother of Nathan. Nathanael in John's gospel is the disciple told to come and see; Nathaniel Hawthorne carried the English spelling into literature.
- NicholasNIK-uh-lusGreek
Victory of the people. Saint Nicholas of Myra, the fourth-century bishop who gave in secret, is the reason a version of this name comes down a chimney every December.
- NeilNEELIrish
Disputed at the root, traditionally glossed as champion. Neil Armstrong and Neil Young between them cover most of what the name suggests.
- NiallNYE-alIrish
The Irish original behind Neil and Nigel. Niall of the Nine Hostages, the semi-legendary high king, is the ancestor half the northern Irish dynasties claimed.
- NelsonNEL-sunEnglish
Son of Neil. A surname first, worn by an admiral and then by Nelson Mandela, who made it a first name people choose deliberately.
- NormanNOR-munEnglish
North man — a Norseman, and then the people who crossed from Normandy in 1066. A mid-century staple now well outside the current U.S. top 100.
- Noelnoh-ELFrench
Christmas; the day of the Nativity. Medieval England gave it to boys born in late December, and the custom never entirely stopped.
- NestorNESS-turGreek
Uncertain, possibly tied to the idea of homecoming. In the Iliad, Nestor is the old king everyone else stops to listen to — the name still means an elder statesman in English.
Nicholas in other languages
No other N name has travelled like this one. Every entry below is the same Greek compound — nike and laos, victory and people — filtered through a different country's mouth.
- Nikolainik-uh-LYERussian
The Russian form, and the given name of both Tsar Nicholas I and Tsar Nicholas II. Gogol was a Nikolai too.
- NielsNELSSDanish
Denmark's version, worn by Niels Bohr, who worked out the structure of the atom and then argued about it for thirty years.
- NilsNILSSScandinavian
The Swedish and Norwegian spelling. Short, blunt and unmistakably Nordic — one syllable that ends in a hiss.
- NiklasNIK-lassSwedish
The longer Swedish and German form, closer to the Greek than Nils and easier for English speakers to hear as Nicholas.
- NiekNEEKDutch
The Dutch short form of Nicolaas, and a genuinely common name for boys in the Netherlands rather than a nickname.
- Nicolònee-koh-LOHItalian
Italy's form, with the stress thrown onto the last syllable. Niccolò Machiavelli wore the doubled-c variant of it.
- NicoNEE-kohGreek origin
The clipped form that broke free. It works in Italian, German, Spanish and English at once, which is most of the point.
N names from around the world
- NākoaNAH-koh-ahHawaiian
The warriors — nā koa, plural, article and all. A name that refers to more than one man on purpose.
- NaluNAH-looHawaiian
Wave, surf. The same word also means to ponder, which is a fair description of watching a set roll in.
- Noheano-HEH-ahHawaiian
Handsome; of fine appearance. Hawaiian gives beauty words to boys without any of the awkwardness English brings to it.
- NagiNAH-gheeJapanese
The calm — specifically the windless interval when the breeze dies and the water goes flat. A weather word, used as a name.
- NamNAHMVietnamese
South, written 南. One syllable, one direction, and a staple of Vietnamese men's names for generations.
- NamjoonNAM-joonKorean
Meaning depends on the characters; the familiar writing 南俊 reads south and talented. Kim Namjoon of BTS is the bearer most of the world knows.
- NguyênNGWEE-uhnVietnamese
First, original, the beginning — the character 元. Familiar to English speakers as a surname, but a real given name in its own right.
- NasirNAH-seerArabic
Helper, supporter, one who brings victory. It is the root behind the title Nasir al-Din, defender of the faith.
- Nassoronah-SOH-rohSwahili
Victory; help and support. The Swahili coast reshaped the Arabic Nasir into something with a rounder ending.
- Nkosin-KOH-seeZulu
Lord, chief, king. It opens South Africa's national anthem — Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika, God bless Africa.
- NnamdiNAHM-deeIgbo
My father is alive — stated as a fact, not a hope. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Nigeria's first president, made it nationally famous.
- Ndubuisin-doo-boo-EE-seeIgbo
Life is the head of all things. Igbo names argue a position rather than describe a child, and this one argues that nothing outranks being alive.
Unique N names
- NashNASHEnglish
At the ash tree — a medieval mishearing of atten ash that stuck. Rare in the U.S., and the shortest N name that still sounds like a surname.
- Nareknah-REKArmenian
Of Narek, the monastery on Lake Van where Gregory of Narek wrote the Book of Lamentations. Common in Armenia, almost unheard-of elsewhere.
- Nicanornee-kah-NORGreek
Victorious man. It appears in the Book of Acts and again, much later, on the Chilean poet Nicanor Parra.
- Narcisonar-SEE-soSpanish
The narcissus flower, and the youth of the Greek myth who could not look away from his own reflection. Used steadily in Spain and the Philippines.
- NunoNOO-nooPortuguese
Probably monk or elder, though the root is not settled. Nuno Álvares Pereira won Portugal its independence at Aljubarrota and was later made a saint.
- Nezahualcóyotlneh-sah-wahl-KOH-yotlNahuatl
Fasting coyote — the coyote who goes without. The poet-king of Texcoco, and the longest name on this page by a wide margin.