Murtaza
One who sacrifices or gives his life for a righteous cause.
Name Census estimates that about 374 living Americans carry the first name Murtaza. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Murtaza today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Murtaza births was 2023 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Murtaza. 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 Murtaza with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
374
~ 1 in 916,455 Americans
Peak year
2023
26 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,361
Tracked since 1983
Census
Murtaza in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 913 people with the first name Murtaza, which placed it at #13,282 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
#13,282
National first-name rank
People counted
913
913 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
86.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Murtaza
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Murtaza is Asian/Pacific Islander at 86.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.7%) and White (4.6%). 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 Murtaza 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 Murtaza at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander86.3% · 788
- Two or more races7.7% · 70
- White4.6% · 42
- Black or African American0.5% · 5
- Hispanic or Latino0.4% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 4
Popularity
Murtaza: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Murtaza from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 119 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Murtaza remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Murtaza 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 Murtaza during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Murtazas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. New York, California, Maryland recorded the most babies named Murtaza, while Maryland, California, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 10 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Murtaza
The name Murtaza has its origins in the Arabic language and is derived from the root word "rida," which means "satisfaction" or "contentment." The name is closely associated with the Islamic faith and culture.
In Arabic, the name Murtaza is composed of two parts: "Mur" and "taza." The prefix "Mur" can be translated as "the chosen one" or "the selected one," while "taza" means "pure" or "virtuous." Thus, the name Murtaza can be interpreted as "the chosen pure one" or "the virtuous chosen one."
The name Murtaza holds significant historical and religious importance in Islamic tradition. It is one of the honorific titles bestowed upon Ali ibn Abi Talib, the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad. Ali was given the title "Murtaza" by the Prophet himself, signifying his exalted status and his selection as the chosen spiritual successor.
The earliest recorded use of the name Murtaza dates back to the 7th century CE, during the time of the Rashidun Caliphate. Throughout Islamic history, several notable figures have borne the name Murtaza, including:
1. Murtaza Husain (1612-1691), a renowned Indian scholar and poet who was a prominent figure in the Naqshbandi Sufi order.
2. Murtaza Quli Khan (1528-1595), a distinguished military commander and statesman during the Mughal Empire in India.
3. Murtaza al-Zabidi (1732-1791), an influential Arabic lexicographer and author of the encyclopedic dictionary "Taj al-Arus."
4. Murtaza Mutahhari (1919-1979), an Iranian philosopher, theologian, and prominent figure in the Iranian Revolution.
5. Murtaza Bhutto (1954-1996), a Pakistani politician and the eldest son of former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
The name Murtaza has also been featured in various literary works and Islamic texts, further solidifying its significance within the Islamic tradition. It is often associated with virtues such as purity, righteousness, and spiritual excellence.
People
Murtaza + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Murtaza 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
Murtaza: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Murtaza?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 374 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Murtaza 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 916,455 US residents.
Is Murtaza a common name?
We classify Murtaza as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 379 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Murtaza most popular?
The single biggest year for Murtaza was 2023, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Murtaza is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Murtaza in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 913 people with the name Murtaza, or 0.30 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,282 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 Murtaza 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 Murtaza?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Murtaza appears almost entirely male. Of the 916 people counted with this name, 99.3% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Murtaza?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Murtaza is Asian/Pacific Islander at 86.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.7%) and White (4.6%). 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 Murtaza most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Murtaza in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.3% (788 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 Murtaza in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Murtaza a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Murtaza in the SSA data are male. 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 Murtaza still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Murtaza 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 Murtaza 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 Murtaza?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.