Dunia
A feminine Arabic name meaning "world" or "the present life".
Name Census estimates that about 603 living Americans carry the first name Dunia. It is a predominantly female name (99.0% of registrations). The average person named Dunia today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dunia births was 2004 (29 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dunia. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Dunia with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
603
~ 1 in 568,415 Americans
Peak year
2004
29 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,669
Tracked since 1973
Census
Dunia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,330 people with the first name Dunia, which placed it at #5,218 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#5,218
National first-name rank
People counted
3.3K
3,330 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
77.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dunia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dunia is Hispanic at 77.5%. The next largest groups are White (15.2%) and Black (5.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Dunia described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Dunia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino77.5% · 2,582
- White15.2% · 505
- Black or African American5.0% · 166
- Two or more races1.3% · 44
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 30
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Dunia
Out of the 620 babies given the name Dunia since 1880, 99.0% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Dunia as a male name
- Ranked #11,253 in 2024
- 6 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (6 births)
Dunia as a female name
- Ranked #7,669 in 2024
- 14 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2004 (29 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dunia leans strongly female. 3,264 people counted with this name were female (97.8%), compared with 72 male bearers (2.2%).
Popularity
Dunia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dunia from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 176 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Dunia remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dunia 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 Dunia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dunias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Michigan, New York recorded the most babies named Dunia, while New York, Michigan, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 15 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Dunia
The name Dunia originates from the Arabic language, where it means "world" or "universe." It is derived from the Arabic word "dunya," which has its roots in the Semitic languages and is believed to have been in use since ancient times.
In the Islamic tradition, the word "dunya" is often used to refer to the temporal world, as opposed to the eternal hereafter. The name Dunia carries a connotation of vastness and expansiveness, reflecting the vastness of the world or the universe.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Dunia can be found in the 13th century, in the work of the renowned Persian poet and scholar, Rumi. In his famous poetic masterpiece, the "Masnavi," Rumi uses the word "dunya" to symbolize the material world and its transient nature.
Throughout history, the name Dunia has been carried by several notable figures. One of the earliest recorded individuals with this name was Dunia al-Watawat, a 9th-century Abbasid princess and poet from Baghdad. Her poetry is considered a significant contribution to the Arabic literary tradition.
In the 14th century, Dunia Sundari was a renowned Indian courtesan and poetess who lived during the Delhi Sultanate. Her poetry, written in Persian, is celebrated for its depth and beauty.
Another notable bearer of the name was Dunia Buhur, a 16th-century Ottoman princess and the daughter of Sultan Selim II. She is remembered for her patronage of the arts and her influence in the Ottoman court.
In more recent times, Dunia Shuaib was a prominent Sudanese writer and activist who lived from 1934 to 2010. Her works addressed issues of gender inequality and social justice, earning her recognition as a pioneering voice in Sudanese literature.
Dunia Batma, born in 1949, is a renowned Moroccan singer and actress. She has made significant contributions to the preservation and promotion of Moroccan cultural heritage through her music and acting performances.
While these are just a few examples, the name Dunia has been carried by individuals from various cultural backgrounds and historical periods, reflecting its timeless and universal appeal.
People
Dunia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dunia 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
Dunia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dunia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 603 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dunia 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 568,415 US residents.
Is Dunia a common name?
We classify Dunia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 620 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dunia most popular?
The single biggest year for Dunia was 2004, when 29 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dunia is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dunia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,330 people with the name Dunia, or 1.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,218 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Dunia in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Dunia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dunia leans strongly female. 3,264 people counted with this name were female (97.8%), compared with 72 male bearers (2.2%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Dunia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dunia is Hispanic at 77.5%. The next largest groups are White (15.2%) and Black (5.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Dunia most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Dunia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.5% (2,582 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Dunia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dunia a female name?
Yes, 99.0% of people registered as Dunia 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.
Is Dunia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dunia in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Dunia can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many people have Dunia as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Dunia on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.