Moe
Masculine · “Short form of Maurice”
Moe is given to both — 733 boys and 62 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Morris dancing has nothing to do with anyone named Morris. The word is a form of Moorish — the dance was so called because performers blackened their faces and the style was imagined as exotic — and it is unrelated to the name, which comes from Latin Maurus by a different route.
How old is the name Moe?
Moe first appears in US birth records in 1888 — 137 years ago. The typical Moe alive today was born around 1917, making them about 108 years old. About 100 people named Moe are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Moe most popular?
Moe peaked in 1904, reaching #612 nationally. Today it ranks #7679, 7,067 places below that high. See the whole 1904 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Maurus to Moe
The story of Moe
The morris dance is recorded in England from the fifteenth century, and the name is an alteration of Moorish — the association was with something foreign and spectacular rather than with any actual North African practice. The same impulse named other European dances and tunes after distant places. Maurice, meanwhile, traveled through the Church: Saint Maurice was an Egyptian commander of the Theban Legion, and his cult in the Rhineland and Savoy spread the name across Europe, giving English Morris and Maurice, which were interchangeable for centuries. Moe as an American registered name peaks in 1904, with Jewish immigration where it usually stood for Moses.
Meaningscholars disagree
Short form of Maurice, Morris or Moses
Maurice and Morris are the same name, from Latin Maurus, a Moor or North African, later understood as dark-skinned. Moses is separate and probably Egyptian rather than Hebrew, from a element meaning born of, as in Thutmose. Moe serves as a clip of all three, and which lies behind an American bearer varies entirely by family.
How the name formed
- Maurus
- Mauricius
- Morris
- Moe
Related forms: Mo · Maurice · Moshe
Pronouncing Moe
moh
One syllable, rhyming with go. Moe and Mo are pronounced identically; the e adds a letter and no sound.
Nicknames for Moe
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
- 1888
- Most boys named
- 191649 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #612reached in 1904
- Change vs 2024
- +42.9%10 in 2025, from 7
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.
Moe in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Mo in English — spelling variant
- Maurice in French — related form
- Moshe in Hebrew — related form
Moes among us
people named Moe are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 170,808 born in 2025 was named Moe
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
Moe 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
Moe beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Moe in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- One syllable and three letters, impossible to mispronounce.
- Several settled fuller names stand behind it.
- It is warm and informal without being invented.
- It reads as a nickname rather than a full legal name.
- Three unrelated fuller names could lie behind it.
- Very short names are sometimes rejected by forms.
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What they receive
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Moe
Masculine · #7679 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Moes are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 100 people named Moe are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Moe in 2025?
- Moe ranks #7679 among US boy names in 2025, with 10 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Moe?
- About 1 in every 170,808 US boys born in 2025 was named Moe — 10 in all.
- Will my child share the name Moe with classmates?
- Moe will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Moe
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Early#7679 · Obie#7679 · Huston#7679 · Knute#7679 · Rance#7679 · Blain#7679 · Doyle#7679 · Millard#7679
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Moe? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Moe and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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