Nur
Feminine · “light”
Nur is given to both — 647 girls and 216 boys since 1880. See other names given to both
Nur is the Arabic word for light, and it names a chapter of the Qur'an containing one of the most quoted passages in the book.
How old is the name Nur?
Nur first appears in US birth records in 1986 — 39 years ago. The typical Nur is a kid of about 11 — this name's wave is very recent. About 600 people named Nur are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Nur most popular?
Nur peaked in 2023, reaching #3140 nationally. Today it ranks #4172, 1,032 places below that high. See the whole 2023 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Nur
The Verse of Light is one of the most commented-on passages in the Qur'an — a lamp in a glass like a shining star, lit from a blessed olive tree neither of the east nor the west — and it has occupied philosophers and mystics for a thousand years. Nur is used for both sexes across the Muslim world and appears in compounds such as Nur al-Din and Nurjahan.
Meaning
light
From Arabic nur, light; al-Nur is among the divine names, and the Verse of Light in the twenty-fourth chapter compares God's light to a lamp in a niche. The word traveled into Persian, Turkish, Urdu and Malay.
Pronouncing Nur
NOOR
One syllable. There is little variation across the languages that use it.
Nicknames for Nur
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
- 1986
- Most girls named
- 202352 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3140reached in 2023
- Change vs 2024
- +17.2%34 in 2025, from 29
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.
Nur in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Noor in Arabic — spelling variant
- Nur in Turkish — same name
- Nur in Malay — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, Pennsylvania, California.
Nurs among us
people named Nur are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 47,273 born in 2025 was named Nur
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 Sherin test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Nur's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Sherin climbed just as high around 1944, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Sherin's path sketches the road Nur is walking now.
Nur 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 Nur is headed
Nur should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low 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.
Nur beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Nur in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled meaning with a genuinely central place in Islamic thought.
- Three letters and one syllable — as short as a name gets.
- Recognized from Morocco to Indonesia without any explanation.
- Noor is the more common English spelling and will be written for her.
- It is used for both sexes, so forms may guess wrong.
- A three-letter name gives little room for a nickname.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Nur
Feminine · #4172 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Nurs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Nur are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Nur in 2025?
- Nur ranks #4172 among US girl names in 2025, with 34 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Nur?
- About 1 in every 47,273 US girls born in 2025 was named Nur — 34 in all.
- Will my child share the name Nur with classmates?
- Nur will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Nur
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Roseanna#4172 · Elida#4172 · Neila#4172 · Savina#4172 · Kendyl#4172 · Zakiya#4172 · Naisha#4172 · Ethel#4172
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Nur? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Nur and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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