Dua
An Arabic feminine name meaning "invocation" or "prayer".
Name Census estimates that about 1,243 living Americans carry the first name Dua. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Dua today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dua births was 2024 (170 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dua. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Dua is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 9 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.2K
~ 1 in 275,748 Americans
Peak year
2024
170 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,338
Tracked since 1993
Popularity
Dua: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dua from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 657 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dua by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Dua during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Duas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 15 states and territories. New York, Texas, California recorded the most babies named Dua, while North Carolina, Massachusetts, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 46 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Dua
The name Dua has its origins in the Arabic language and culture, with roots dating back to the 7th century CE. In Arabic, the word "dua" means "invocation" or "supplication," reflecting its religious and spiritual significance within Islamic tradition.
Dua is believed to have been derived from the Arabic root word "da'a," which means "to call" or "to summon." This linguistic connection suggests that the name Dua was originally associated with the act of calling upon a higher power or invoking divine blessings.
Throughout Islamic history, the concept of dua (invocation) has held immense importance, as it represents the communication between an individual and God. Dua is frequently mentioned in the Quran, the central religious text of Islam, and is considered a fundamental aspect of worship and seeking guidance.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Dua can be found in the 9th century CE, with Dua al-Muzaffar, a renowned Arab mathematician and astronomer who made significant contributions to the development of trigonometry and the study of celestial movements.
In the 11th century, Dua al-Ghazi was a prominent military leader and ruler of the Seljuk Empire, known for his strategic prowess and victories against the Byzantine forces in Anatolia.
Another notable figure bearing the name Dua was Dua al-Khair, a 13th-century Sufi mystic and scholar from Persia (modern-day Iran). Her writings and teachings on Sufism, the mystical tradition within Islam, gained widespread recognition and influenced many subsequent generations of spiritual seekers.
During the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century, Dua Pasha was a high-ranking official and military commander who played a crucial role in the expansion and consolidation of Ottoman power in various regions.
In more recent times, Dua Nayel, born in 1942, was a prominent Syrian poet and author whose works explored themes of love, identity, and socio-political issues. Her poetic contributions have left a lasting impact on contemporary Arabic literature.
While the name Dua has its roots in the Arabic language and Islamic tradition, it has transcended cultural boundaries and gained popularity across various regions and communities worldwide, serving as a reminder of the universal human desire for spiritual connection and guidance.
People
Dua + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dua as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with D
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Dua: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dua?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,243 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dua going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 275,748 US residents.
Is Dua a common name?
We classify Dua as "Rare". It ranks above 91.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,253 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dua most popular?
The single biggest year for Dua was 2024, when 170 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dua is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Dua a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dua in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.