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Nadia

Girl name · 1,288 babies recorded · 1974–2025

Nadia: 1,288 babies born in Scotland since 1974, given to girls, peaking at 46 births in 1989.

Nadia finds its roots in the Slavic name Nadezhda, meaning “hope,” and it gained widespread use across Eastern Europe before traveling westward. In Arabic, it also appears as a variant of Nadiyya, meaning “tender” or “delicate,” giving the name a rich dual heritage. Perhaps the most famous bearer is the Romanian gymnast Nadia Comăneci, who scored the first perfect ten in Olympic history at the 1976 Montreal Games. Another inspiring figure is Nadia Murad, the Iraqi Yazidi activist who won the Nobel Peace Prize for her work against sexual violence in conflict. The name’s simple elegance has made it popular in many countries, and it shares a common thread with the Russian variant Nadya, both carrying that core sense of optimism.