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niYam meaning rules is, of course, Hindi (and Bengali, and ...); though I did not know it was used as a personal name. Thank you for letting me know that it is still used as such. What I do not know, however, is whether Niam that the original poster is writing about is the same name (or, for that matter, how that Niam is pronounced).

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niYam comes from Sanskrit. The root yam meant to support, to wield a weapon, to grant, to establish, to fix, to subdue, etc., and is cognate with the root of Greek ζημία. The indeclinable ni (cognate with part of the English word beneath) narrows a meaning with the qualities of down, back, inside. The combination ni-yam means to stop, lower, bring near, grant, etc. and niyama meant a restraint or rule. It was used as an epithet of vishnu, the protector, in classical times.