Munira
Feminine · “shining”
Munira is light in Arabic, and specifically light that is given rather than held: the word describes a thing that illuminates, a lamp or a moon rather than the sun. It comes from the root that gives nur, the ordinary Arabic word for light, and it is given across the whole Arabic-speaking world.
How old is the name Munira?
Munira first appears in US birth records in 1981 — 44 years ago. The typical Munira is a kid of about 10 — this name's wave is very recent. About 700 people named Munira are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Munira most popular?
Munira peaked in 2019, reaching #3552 nationally. Today it ranks #4758, 1,206 places below that high. See the whole 2019 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Munira
The root n-w-r runs through a whole family of Arabic names, Nur, Nura, Anwar, Munir and Munira among them, and the family is old, well documented and used by Muslim and Christian Arab families alike. Munira spread with Arabic into Persian, Turkish, Urdu, Swahili and Malay, and it is common across South and Southeast Asia as well as the Middle East. In the United States it appears with families from all of those places, and its transliteration has stayed stable because every sound in it exists in English.
Meaning
shining, giving light
Arabic munira, the feminine of munir, from the root n-w-r, light. The form is an active participle: not simply bright, but something that lights other things.
Pronouncing Munira
moo-NEE-rah
Three syllables, stress in the middle, all vowels open. English speakers usually get it right without being told.
Nicknames for Munira
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
- 1981
- Most girls named
- 201943 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3552reached in 2019
- Change vs 2024
- −17.6%28 in 2025, from 34
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.
Munira in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- منيرة in Arabic — transliteration
- Münire in Turkish — same name
- Munira in Urdu — same name
- Munirah in Malay — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Minnesota, New York, Ohio.
Muniras among us
people named Munira are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 57,402 born in 2025 was named Munira
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Jacquilyn test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Munira's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Jacquilyn climbed just as high around 1952, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Jacquilyn's path sketches the road Munira is walking now.
Munira 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
Where Munira is headed
Munira should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Munira beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Munira in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is precise and generous: not bright, but giving light.
- It is used from Morocco to Malaysia, so it belongs to many communities at once.
- The sounds all exist in English, so it survives transliteration intact.
- Munira and Munirah are both standard, so family records may not match.
- English readers may stress the first syllable, which changes the rhythm noticeably.
- It is uncommon outside Muslim and Arab communities in the United States, so it gets spelled out often.
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What they receive
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Munira
Feminine · #4758 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Muniras are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Munira are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Munira in 2025?
- Munira ranks #4758 among US girl names in 2025, with 28 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Munira?
- About 1 in every 57,402 US girls born in 2025 was named Munira — 28 in all.
- Will my child share the name Munira with classmates?
- Munira will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Munira
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Marylou#4758 · Landon#4758 · Lexa#4758 · Alysia#4758 · Ixchel#4758 · Parisa#4758 · Jumana#4758 · Berenice#4758
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Munira? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Munira and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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