Nuha
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "peaceful" or "tranquil".
Name Census estimates that about 695 living Americans carry the first name Nuha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Nuha today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nuha births was 2018 (35 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nuha. 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 Nuha with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
695
~ 1 in 493,172 Americans
Peak year
2018
35 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,527
Tracked since 1978
Census
Nuha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,301 people with the first name Nuha, which placed it at #10,308 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
#10,308
National first-name rank
People counted
1.3K
1,301 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
59.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nuha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nuha is White at 59.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (26.9%) and Black (8.7%). 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 Nuha 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 Nuha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White59.0% · 768
- Asian and Pacific Islander26.9% · 350
- Black or African American8.7% · 113
- Two or more races4.9% · 64
- Hispanic or Latino0.3% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 2
Popularity
Nuha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nuha from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 255 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Nuha remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nuha 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 Nuha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nuhas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. New York, Illinois, Texas recorded the most babies named Nuha, while California, Texas, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 23 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nuha
The name Nuha is of Arabic origin, derived from the root word "نهى" (nahā), which means "to forbid" or "to prohibit" in Arabic. It is believed to have originated in the Arabian Peninsula during the early Islamic era.
Nuha is a feminine name that is often associated with the concept of prohibition or abstinence in Islamic teachings. It carries a sense of moral guidance and adherence to religious principles.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Nuha can be found in the Quran, the holy book of Islam. It is mentioned in Surah Al-Nahl (The Bee), verse 90, where the word "nahā" is used in the context of prohibiting evil and immorality.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Nuha. One of the most famous was Nuha bint Al-Husayn ibn Ali (born around 640 CE), a revered figure in Islamic history known for her piety and knowledge. She was a granddaughter of the Prophet Muhammad and played a significant role in preserving and transmitting Islamic teachings.
Another prominent figure was Nuha bint Abi Al-Qasim (born in 921 CE), a renowned scholar and poet from Andalusia (modern-day Spain). She was highly regarded for her expertise in Arabic literature and her contributions to the cultural and intellectual life of the region.
In the 12th century, Nuha bint Al-Malik Al-Ashraf (born around 1150 CE) was a prominent figure in the Ayyubid dynasty. She was known for her patronage of the arts and her support for educational institutions in Damascus and Cairo.
Nuha bint Yahya Al-Baghdadi (born in 1147 CE) was a renowned scholar and jurist from Baghdad. She was recognized for her extensive knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence and her contributions to the development of legal thought in the region.
Lastly, Nuha Al-Rawi (born in 1925 CE) was a notable Iraqi poet and writer, known for her poetic works that explored themes of love, identity, and the human condition. Her poetry gained widespread recognition and acclaim throughout the Arab world.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have carried the name Nuha throughout history, each making significant contributions to their respective fields and leaving a lasting impact on their societies.
People
Nuha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nuha as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with N
Other first names starting with N with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Nuha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nuha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 695 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nuha 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 493,172 US residents.
Is Nuha a common name?
We classify Nuha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 705 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nuha most popular?
The single biggest year for Nuha was 2018, when 35 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nuha is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nuha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,301 people with the name Nuha, or 0.43 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,308 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 Nuha 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 Nuha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nuha leans strongly female. 1,271 people counted with this name were female (97.8%), compared with 29 male bearers (2.2%). 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 Nuha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nuha is White at 59.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (26.9%) and Black (8.7%). 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 Nuha most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Nuha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 59.0% (768 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 Nuha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nuha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nuha 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 Nuha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nuha 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 Nuha 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 are named Nuha?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.