Nura
Light or luminous, from the Arabic language.
Name Census estimates that about 843 living Americans carry the first name Nura. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Nura today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nura births was 2019 (57 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nura. 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 Nura with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
843
~ 1 in 406,589 Americans
Peak year
2019
57 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,200
Tracked since 1981
Census
Nura in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,036 people with the first name Nura, which placed it at #12,133 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
#12,133
National first-name rank
People counted
1.0K
1,036 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
42.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nura
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nura is Black at 42.0%. The next largest groups are White (33.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (12.5%). 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 Nura 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 Nura at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American42.0% · 435
- White33.6% · 348
- Asian and Pacific Islander12.5% · 129
- Two or more races6.9% · 71
- Hispanic or Latino4.7% · 49
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 4
Popularity
Nura: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nura 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 321 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Nura remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nura 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 Nura during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nuras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Nura, while Virginia, New Jersey, Minnesota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 20 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nura
The name Nura is believed to have its origins in the Arabic language, where it is derived from the word "nur," meaning "light" or "illumination." This name has been particularly prevalent in the Middle Eastern and North African regions, where Arabic culture and linguistics have had a significant influence.
In Islamic tradition, the concept of "nur" holds deep spiritual and religious significance, often associated with divine guidance, enlightenment, and the radiance of truth. Consequently, the name Nura may have been bestowed upon individuals as a symbolic representation of these virtues or as a prayer for the child to be a source of light and wisdom.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Nura can be traced back to the 7th century CE, during the early years of the Islamic era. Historical records mention a woman named Nura bint Malik, who was a prominent figure in the city of Medina and known for her piety and charitable works.
Throughout the centuries, several notable individuals have borne the name Nura. One such figure was Nura Sami (1894-1975), a renowned Egyptian feminist and activist who played a pivotal role in advancing women's rights and advocating for educational reforms in her country.
Another historically significant individual with the name Nura was Nura Khalil al-Sa'dawi (1892-1957), an influential Iraqi poet and writer who was celebrated for her contributions to modern Arabic literature and her advocacy for social and cultural reforms.
In the realm of Islamic scholarship, Nura al-Huda (1908-1993) was a prominent Syrian scholar and author who wrote extensively on Islamic jurisprudence, theology, and women's issues. Her works were highly influential and widely read throughout the Arab world.
Nura Inayat Khan (1914-1944), a descendant of a Indian Muslim spiritual leader, was a British Special Operations Executive agent during World War II. She served as a wireless operator in occupied France and was captured, tortured, and executed by the Nazis, becoming a revered figure in the history of the French Resistance.
It is worth noting that while the name Nura has historically been more prevalent in regions with Arabic and Islamic cultural influences, it has also been adopted and used in various other cultures and linguistic contexts, reflecting the global reach and adaptability of names across different societies.
People
Nura + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nura 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
Nura: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nura?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 843 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nura 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 406,589 US residents.
Is Nura a common name?
We classify Nura as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 855 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nura most popular?
The single biggest year for Nura was 2019, when 57 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nura is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nura in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,036 people with the name Nura, or 0.34 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,133 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 Nura 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 Nura?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nura leans strongly female. 1,001 people counted with this name were female (96.7%), compared with 34 male bearers (3.3%). 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 Nura?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nura is Black at 42.0%. The next largest groups are White (33.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (12.5%). 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 Nura most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Nura in the 2020 Census, accounting for 42.0% (435 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 Nura in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nura a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nura 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 Nura still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nura 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 Nura 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 Americans are named Nura?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.