Runa
Feminine · “secret”
Runa is a Norse word for a secret. It is the singular behind the runes — which were not primarily an alphabet but a body of hidden knowledge, and the letters took their name from the secrecy rather than the other way round.
How old is the name Runa?
Runa first appears in US birth records in 2000 — 25 years ago. The typical Runa is a kid of about 5 — this name's wave is very recent. About 600 people named Runa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Runa most popular?
Runa peaked in 2020, reaching #2468 nationally. Today it ranks #2751, 283 places below that high. See the whole 2020 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From run to Runa
The story of Runa
The runic alphabet was used across the Germanic north for well over a thousand years, and the word behind it — run — meant a secret or a mystery before it meant a letter, which is why Old English uses the same word for a whispered counsel. Runa is the Old Norse woman's name built from it, and it survives in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Iceland as an ordinary given name. Separately and much more recently, Japanese parents began writing the Latin moon as Runa, and it has become common there. American records carry both roads.
Meaningscholars disagree
secret; hidden lore, rune
Old Norse run means a secret or a piece of hidden knowledge, and the runic letters are named from it. That reading is well documented for the Scandinavian name. A second and entirely separate Runa exists in Japan, written in katakana from the Latin luna, 'moon', and it is a common modern girls' name there. Two languages, one spelling, no connection at all between them.
How the name formed
- run
- Runa
Related forms: Runa · Runa · ルナ · Runa
Pronouncing Runa
ROO-nah
Two syllables, stress on the first, the u a long oo. Some English speakers say RUE-nuh with a flatter ending; Scandinavian keeps the final a fully open.
Nicknames for Runa
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
- 2000
- Most girls named
- 202070 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2468reached in 2020
- Change vs 2024
- +5.1%62 in 2025, from 59
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.
Runa in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Runa in Norwegian — same name
- Runa in Swedish — same name
- ルナ in Japanese — transliteration
- Runa in German — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Washington, California, Oregon.
Runas among us
people named Runa are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 25,924 born in 2025 was named Runa
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 Kyia test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Runa's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Kyia climbed just as high around 2002, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Kyia's path sketches the road Runa is walking now.
Runa 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 Runa is headed
Runa 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.
Runa beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Runa in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Four letters, no ambiguity, and easy for a small child to write.
- A genuine Old Norse name with an unbroken record in four countries.
- The meaning is exact, unusual and not a virtue-word — a secret rather than a quality.
- Runa, Rune and Luna are close enough in English speech to be confused, and Luna especially so.
- It carries two unrelated origins, so its meaning depends on which one the family means.
- In the United States it is uncommon enough that it will be asked about often.
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What they receive
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Runa
Feminine · #2751 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Runas 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 Runa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Runa in 2025?
- Runa ranks #2751 among US girl names in 2025, with 62 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Runa?
- About 1 in every 25,924 US girls born in 2025 was named Runa — 62 in all.
- Will my child share the name Runa with classmates?
- Runa will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Runa
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Allisson#2751 · Nya#2751 · Cloe#2751 · Emmersyn#2751 · Emeline#2751 · Annalynn#2751 · Anisa#2751 · Ziyah#2751
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Runa? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Runa and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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