Baby Names US
Unisex name ★ peaked 2023

Nur

Meaning light Gender Unisex · 75% girls Rank 2025 #4,247 Trend ↑ Rising 45%

Noor is a common Arabic unisex given name meaning 'light', from the Arabic al-Nur (النور).

Rank 2025
#4,247
among girls · ↑495 vs 2024
Babies in 2025
50
named Nur · +32% vs 2024
How common
1 in 47,273
girls born in 2025
Peak year
2023
63 babies
All-time total
863
#10,030 all-time among girls
First recorded
1981
in Social Security records

Nur popularity over time

863 babies have been named Nur since 1981, according to official Social Security records. Switch measure to see births per year or the yearly rank.

Measure
Births per 1,000 babies of that sex, comparable across eras
0.010.020.030.0418801900192019401960198020002020GirlsBoys
GirlsBoys

By decade. Change compares yearly averages, so the current partial decade is on equal footing. Best rank is the name's best yearly rank within the decade.

Decade Girls Boys Total Per year Change Best rank
1880s – – – – – –
1890s – – – – – –
1900s – – – – – –
1910s – – – – – –
1920s – – – – – –
1930s – – – – – –
1940s – – – – – –
1950s – – – – – –
1960s – – – – – –
1970s – – – – – –
1980s 23 10 33 3 – #7,867
1990s 127 11 138 14 +318% #5,463
2000s 134 53 187 19 +36% #6,543
2010s 151 83 234 23 +25% #4,321
2020s (to 2025) 212 59 271 45 +93% #3,172

Where Nur is heading

A five-year projection from the recent trend in births per 1,000 girls (damped so it flattens over time), converted to babies at today's birth totals. The implied rank places that projection in the 2025 field. A projection, not a promise: real trends bend.

Year Projected babies Per 1,000 girls Implied rank
2026 36 0.02 outside top 500
2027 37 0.02 outside top 500
2028 38 0.02 outside top 500
2029 39 0.02 outside top 500
2030 40 0.03 outside top 500

The story of Nur

Nur is rare for girls in the United States, ranked #4,247 in 2025 with 34 babies given the name. It is currently rising compared with a decade ago.

Since 1981, 863 American babies have been named Nur, about 75% girls and 25% boys, making it a genuinely unisex name. Its peak came in 2023, when 63 newborns received the name, the signature sound of the 2020s.

The chart above shows the full history: the popularity view (births per 1,000 babies) is the honest comparison across generations, since total US births have changed enormously since 1880. Switch to the rank view to see where Nur stood among all girls' names in any year, or use the compare tool to plot it against other names.

How old are people named Nur?

The median living Nur is about 10 years old; half are between 4 and 23. An estimated 900 people named Nur are alive in the United States today.

median 10 020406080100

Estimated from births per year and Social Security period life tables; an approximation of the living age distribution, by age in years.

Nur year by year

Every year since 2001, and five-year steps back to 1880. Rank is within each sex.

Year Girls Girls rank Boys Boys rank
2025 34 #4,247 16 #5,776
2024 29 #4,742 9 #8,792
2023 52 #3,172 11 #7,613
2022 37 #4,020 6 #11,906
2021 31 #4,481 10 #7,998
2020 29 #4,625 7 #10,291
2019 20 #6,125 8 #9,501
2018 33 #4,321 11 #7,479
2017 22 #5,778 15 #5,991
2016 20 #6,356 12 #7,025
2015 12 #9,347 13 #6,585
2014 14 #8,381 7 #10,422
2013 5 #18,559 6 #11,762
2012 9 #11,986 6 #11,852
2011 7 #14,445 – –
2010 9 #12,008 5 #13,712
2009 11 #10,475 12 #7,117
2008 10 #11,385 6 #12,148
2007 17 #7,655 5 #13,847
2006 12 #9,745 8 #9,328
2005 15 #7,808 – –
2004 16 #7,306 6 #10,943
2003 10 #10,232 8 #8,403
2002 11 #9,316 8 #8,232
2001 17 #6,543 – –
2000 15 #7,062 – –
1995 17 #5,616 – –
1990 12 #7,175 – –
1985 – – – –
1980 – – – –
1975 – – – –
1970 – – – –
1965 – – – –
1960 – – – –
1955 – – – –
1950 – – – –
1945 – – – –
1940 – – – –
1935 – – – –
1930 – – – –
1925 – – – –
1920 – – – –
1915 – – – –
1910 – – – –
1905 – – – –
1900 – – – –
1895 – – – –
1890 – – – –
1885 – – – –
1880 – – – –

Famous people named Nur

The most globally famous bearers of the name, ranked by fame across Wikipedia editions (Pantheon project, MIT).

  1. 1 Nur Jahan Nur Jahan Padshah Begum of the Mughal Empire 1577–1645 · 16th century
  2. 2 Nur Muhammad Taraki Nur Muhammad Taraki Afghan politician (1917–1979) Contemporary
  3. 3 Nur Misuari Nur Misuari Filipino Moro revolutionary leader (born 1939) Contemporary
  4. 4 Nur Fettahoğlu Nur Fettahoğlu Turkish actress (born 1980) Contemporary
  5. 5 Nur ad-Din Nur ad-Din Emir of Aleppo (1146–1174) and Damascus (1154–1174) 1116–1174 · Medieval
  6. 6 Nur Devlet Khan of the Crimean Khanate (1466–1467, 1467–1469 and 1475–1476) 16th century
  7. 7 Nur Hassan Hussein Nur Hassan Hussein Somalian politician (1938–2020) 1937–2020 · Contemporary
  8. 8 Nur ad-Din al-Bitruji 12th-century Iberian Arab astronomer and Qadi 1200–1204 · Medieval
  9. 9 Nur Tatar Turkish taekwondo practitioner b. 1992 · Contemporary

Portraits from Wikipedia (Wikimedia Commons).

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers about Nur, drawn from the same Social Security data as the charts above.

How old is the average Nur?

The median living Nur is about 10 years old. Half of all living Nurs are between 4 and 23 years old.

How many people named Nur are alive today?

An estimated 900 people named Nur are alive in the United States, based on 863 recorded births and Social Security life tables.

What does the name Nur mean?

Noor is a common Arabic unisex given name meaning 'light', from the Arabic al-Nur (النور).

How popular is the name Nur in 2025?

Nur ranked #4,247 among girls' names in the United States in 2025, with 34 babies given the name, according to Social Security Administration data.

How many people are named Nur?

863 babies have been named Nur in the United States since 1981, based on Social Security card applications.

When was the name Nur most popular?

Nur peaked in 2023, when 63 newborns received the name.

Is Nur a boy or girl name?

Nur is used for both: about 75% of babies named Nur have been girls and 25% boys.

Is the name Nur rising or falling?

Nur is on the rise, noticeably more popular now than a decade ago.

Will Nur become more popular?

Nur is trending upward. If the recent trend holds, we project roughly 40 girls named Nur in 2030, which would rank outside the top 500. Forecasts assume the current trend continues and become less certain further out.

Who are famous people named Nur?

Well-known people named Nur include Nur Jahan (companion), Nur Muhammad Taraki (politician), Nur Misuari (politician).

Names like Nur

Names that sound and feel close to Nur: shared sounds, similar era, similar popularity. Each links to its full history.

Compare Nur with similar names → More names starting with N →