Missouri
Feminine · “those with dugout canoes”
Missouri is a state named for a people, and the people's name in Illinois means those who have dugout canoes — a description given by neighbors rather than a name they used for themselves.
How old is the name Missouri?
Missouri was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Missouri alive today was born around 1912, making them about 113 years old. About 200 people named Missouri are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Missouri most popular?
Missouri peaked in 1880, reaching #333 nationally. Today it ranks #11932, 11,599 places below that high. See the whole 1880 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From ouemessourita to Missouri
The story of Missouri
French explorers took the Illinois name for the Missouria people and applied it to the river, and the river gave its name to the state admitted in 1821. American families used state and river names for daughters through the nineteenth century — Missouri, Nevada, Tennessee, Indiana — and Missouri appears in the registers, peaking around 1885.
Meaningscholars disagree
those with dugout canoes
From the Illinois word ouemessourita, generally read as 'those who have dugout canoes' or 'wooden canoe people'. It was the Illinois name for their neighbors, not those people's own name for themselves — the Missouria called themselves Niúachi. The reading is accepted but the details are debated.
How the name formed
- ouemessourita
- Missouri
Related forms: Ouemessourita · Missourie
Pronouncing Missouri
mih-ZOOR-ee
Three syllables, stress in the middle. Some American speakers end it -uh rather than -ee, and both are established.
Nicknames for Missouri
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 188940 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #333reached in 1880
- Change vs 2023
- +16.7%7 in 2025, from 6
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Missouri in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Ouemessourita in Illinois — related form
- Missourie in English — spelling variant
Missouris among us
people named Missouri are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 229,610 born in 2025 was named Missouri
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Missouri sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Missouri beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Missouri in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The canoe meaning is concrete and records a real piece of linguistic history.
- Missy and Zuri are two short forms at very different registers.
- It belongs to a documented family of nineteenth-century American place-names.
- It is the name of a living people applied by outsiders, which some families will weigh.
- The final vowel splits between two regional readings.
- It is strongly period-coded to the nineteenth century.
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What they receive
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Missouri
Feminine · #11932 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Missouris are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 200 people named Missouri are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Missouri in 2025?
- Missouri ranks #11932 among US girl names in 2025, with 7 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Missouri?
- About 1 in every 229,610 US girls born in 2025 was named Missouri — 7 in all.
- Will my child share the name Missouri with classmates?
- Missouri will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Missouri
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Vina#11932 · Retta#11932 · Iola#11932 · Eddie#11932 · Thomas#11932 · Louetta#11932 · Elvina#11932 · Gracia#11932
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Missouri? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Missouri and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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