Nuri
Masculine · “of the light”
Nuri is given to both — 510 boys and 1,164 girls since 1880. See Nuri as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Nuri means of the light, and the Arabic nur is the word used for a light that has a source beyond itself.
How old is the name Nuri?
Nuri first appears in US birth records in 1975 — 50 years ago. The typical Nuri is a kid of about 9 — this name's wave is very recent. About 500 people named Nuri are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Nuri most popular?
Nuri peaked in 2020, reaching #2925 nationally. Today it ranks #4707, 1,782 places below that high. See the whole 2020 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Nuri
Ours, offered as ours. Arabic distinguishes nur from daw: daw is the light a thing gives off itself, like the sun, and nur is reflected or borrowed light, like the moon's. Classical commentators made a good deal of the distinction, since the Qur'an calls the sun a lamp and the moon a nur. A name built on nur is naming a light that comes from somewhere else, which is the more interesting of the two.
Meaning
of the light, luminous
From Arabic nur, light, with the relational -i ending; a chapter of the Qur'an is named an-Nur. The related Hebrew ner is a lamp. Turkish and Persian use the name as well.
Pronouncing Nuri
NOO-ree
Two syllables, first stressed. Arabic and Turkish give the same shape.
Nicknames for Nuri
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
- 1975
- Most boys named
- 202040 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2925reached in 2020
- Change vs 2024
- −4.5%21 in 2025, from 22
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.
Nuri in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Nuri in Arabic — same name
- Nuri in Turkish — same name
- Nuri in Hebrew — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey.
Nuris among us
people named Nuri are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 81,337 born in 2025 was named Nuri
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 Shady test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Nuri's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Shady climbed just as high around 1916, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Shady's path sketches the road Nuri is walking now.
Nuri 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
Nuri beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Nuri in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled meaning with a genuinely subtle distinction behind it.
- Four letters and two syllables, about as easy to write as a name gets.
- Recognized across the Arab world, Turkey and Israel.
- It is used for both sexes in some communities, so forms may guess wrong.
- Nuri, Noori and Nouri are all in use and mark different regions.
- It is close to Nur, Noor and Nuria in an English ear.
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Nuri
Masculine · #4707 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Nuris are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Nuri are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Nuri in 2025?
- Nuri ranks #4707 among US boy names in 2025, with 21 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Nuri?
- About 1 in every 81,337 US boys born in 2025 was named Nuri — 21 in all.
- Will my child share the name Nuri with classmates?
- Nuri will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Nuri
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ole#4707 · Shelton#4707 · Constantino#4707 · Adel#4707 · Cord#4707 · Zalman#4707 · Montez#4707 · Homer#4707
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Nuri? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Nuri and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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