Maura
A feminine name of Irish origin meaning "great".
Name Census estimates that about 17,443 living Americans carry the first name Maura. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Maura today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Maura births was 1964 (430 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Maura. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Maura with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
17K
~ 1 in 19,650 Americans
Peak year
1964
430 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
1982 SSA rank
#1,810
Tracked since 1903
Census
Maura in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 23,594 people with the first name Maura, which placed it at #1,434 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#1,434
National first-name rank
People counted
24K
23,594 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
7.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
68.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Maura
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maura is White at 68.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (26.7%) and Two or More Races (1.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Maura described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Maura at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White68.9% · 16,261
- Hispanic or Latino26.7% · 6,288
- Two or more races1.6% · 367
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 350
- Black or African American1.3% · 297
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 31
Gender
Gender distribution for Maura
Out of the 19,844 babies given the name Maura since 1880, 100.0% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Maura as a male name
- Ranked #7,009 in 1982
- 5 male births in 1982
- Peak: 1982 (5 births)
Maura as a female name
- Ranked #1,810 in 2024
- 111 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1964 (430 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Maura appears almost entirely female. Of the 23,594 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Maura: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Maura from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 3,651 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Maura by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Maura during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mauras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 38 states and territories. New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts recorded the most babies named Maura, while Oklahoma, Arizona, West Virginia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 415 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Maura
The name Maura has its origins in the Latin language, with roots that can be traced back to ancient Rome. It is derived from the Latin word "Maurus," which means "dark" or "swarthy," possibly referring to the dark complexion of people from northern Africa or southern Europe.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Maura can be found in the writings of the Roman historian Pliny the Elder, who lived in the 1st century AD. He mentioned a woman named Maura who was a renowned herbalist and healer in his time.
In the early Christian era, the name Maura gained popularity as it was borne by several saints and martyrs. One notable figure was Saint Maura of Troyes, a 5th-century Christian martyr who was killed during the persecutions of the Roman Emperor Aurelian.
During the Middle Ages, the name Maura was relatively common in various parts of Europe, particularly in Italy and Spain. One famous bearer of the name was Maura Camilla Arletti, an Italian noblewoman who lived in the 15th century and was known for her patronage of the arts and her influential role in the Florentine Renaissance.
In the 16th century, the name Maura was also associated with St. Maura of Calais, a Belgian nun and mystic who founded the Order of the Annunciation. Her life and teachings were widely celebrated in Catholic circles.
Another notable figure named Maura was Maura Raimondi, an Italian artist and engraver who lived in the 17th century. She was renowned for her intricate engravings and etchings, which depicted religious and mythological scenes.
In the 19th century, the name Maura gained popularity in the United States, particularly among Irish immigrants. One famous American bearer of the name was Maura Corrigan, a Michigan Supreme Court Justice who served from 1999 to 2011.
Throughout history, the name Maura has also been borne by various literary figures, musicians, and artists, including Maura Del Serra, an Italian poet from the 16th century, and Maura Lempel, a 20th-century American composer and music educator.
People
Maura + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Maura as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Maura: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Maura?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 17,443 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Maura going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 19,650 US residents.
Is Maura a common name?
We classify Maura as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 19,844 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Maura most popular?
The single biggest year for Maura was 1964, when 430 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Maura is about 40 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Maura in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 23,594 people with the name Maura, or 7.81 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,434 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Maura in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Maura?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Maura appears almost entirely female. Of the 23,594 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Maura?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maura is White at 68.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (26.7%) and Two or More Races (1.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Maura most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Maura in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.9% (16,261 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Maura in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Maura a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Maura in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Maura still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Maura in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Maura can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Maura?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.