Nura
Feminine · “light”
Nura is built on the Arabic word for light — one of the most productive roots in the language, giving Nur, Munir, Anwar and Manar. It is short, warm and used from Morocco to Indonesia.
How old is the name Nura?
Nura first appears in US birth records in 1981 — 44 years ago. The typical Nura is a kid of about 9 — this name's wave is very recent. About 900 people named Nura are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Nura most popular?
Nura peaked in 2019, reaching #2891 nationally. Today it ranks #3211, 320 places below that high. See the whole 2019 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From nur to Nura
The story of Nura
Nur is a common noun and a personal name in Arabic, used for women and men alike; Nura and Noura are the forms with a feminine ending, used exclusively for women. The name traveled with Arabic into Persian, Turkish, Urdu and Malay, and it is among the most widely borne women's names in the Muslim world. Roman spellings differ — Noura, Nura, Nourah, Noor — depending on which convention a family follows.
Meaning
light
From Arabic nur, light; a chapter of the Qur'an carries the word as its title, and the divine light it describes is one of the most quoted passages in the book.
How the name formed
- nur
- Nura
Related forms: Noura · Nur · Nurul · Noor
Pronouncing Nura
NOO-rah
Two syllables, first stressed, with a long first vowel. There is little variation.
Nicknames for Nura
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
- 201957 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2891reached in 2019
- Change vs 2024
- −2.0%49 in 2025, from 50
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.
Nura in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Noura in Arabic — spelling variant
- Nur in Turkish — related form
- Nurul in Malay — related form
- Noor in Urdu — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Nuras among us
people named Nura are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 32,801 born in 2025 was named Nura
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Nura
- #3211
- Nura on the 2025 chart
- #903
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Nura went to 49 girls in 2025, but Nurah is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 57, which makes it the 903rd most-given girls’ name of the year — 2,308 places above the chart.
- Nura49
- Nurah8
About 1 girl in 28,198 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 32,801 for Nura itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Jalene test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Nura's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Jalene climbed just as high around 1954, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Jalene's path sketches the road Nura is walking now.
Nura 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 Nura is headed
Nura 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.
Nura beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Nura 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 of unusual simplicity and warmth, drawn directly from scripture.
- Four letters and two syllables, readable at sight in almost any language.
- Recognized across the entire Muslim world without needing translation.
- Noura, Noor and Nura are the same name, and relatives may each prefer a different spelling.
- It is close to Nora, an unrelated European name, and the two will be confused constantly.
- The long first vowel gets shortened in English, turning Nura into Nurra.
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What they receive
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Nura
Feminine · #3211 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Nuras are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 900 people named Nura are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Nura?
- Nura is the most-used spelling in US records — 49 of the 57 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Nurah.
- How popular is the name Nura in 2025?
- Nura ranks #3211 among US girl names in 2025, with 49 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Nura?
- About 1 in every 32,801 US girls born in 2025 was named Nura — 49 in all.
- Will my child share the name Nura with classmates?
- Nura will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Nura
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Kristine#3211 · Jalaya#3211 · Gladys#3211 · Amyah#3211 · Dhara#3211 · Janelly#3211 · Dariela#3211 · Quetzalli#3211
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Nura? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Nura and another name?
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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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