Mahnoor
Beautiful like the sun's illumination, a name of Persian origin.
Name Census estimates that about 941 living Americans carry the first name Mahnoor. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Mahnoor today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mahnoor births was 2023 (53 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mahnoor. 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 Mahnoor with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
941
~ 1 in 364,245 Americans
Peak year
2023
53 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,540
Tracked since 1994
Census
Mahnoor in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,092 people with the first name Mahnoor, which placed it at #11,658 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
#11,658
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,092 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
93.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mahnoor
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mahnoor is Asian/Pacific Islander at 93.1%. The next largest groups are White (2.8%) and Two or More Races (2.2%). 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 Mahnoor 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 Mahnoor at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander93.1% · 1,017
- White2.8% · 31
- Two or more races2.2% · 24
- Black or African American1.0% · 11
- Hispanic or Latino0.5% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 4
Popularity
Mahnoor: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mahnoor from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 327 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Mahnoor remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mahnoor 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 Mahnoor during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mahnoors live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. New York, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Mahnoor, while Virginia, New Jersey, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 58 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mahnoor
The name Mahnoor is of Persian origin, derived from the words "Mah" meaning moon and "Noor" meaning light. It is a beautiful and poetic name that translates to "Light of the Moon" or "Moonlight."
This name has its roots in the rich cultural traditions of ancient Persia, now modern-day Iran. It was commonly used during the reign of the Sassanid Empire, which spanned from the 3rd to the 7th century AD. The name is closely associated with the Zoroastrian faith, where the moon held great symbolic significance and was revered as a divine being.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Mahnoor can be found in the poetry of the renowned Persian poet Ferdowsi, who lived from 940 to 1020 AD. In his epic masterpiece, the Shahnameh, he used the name to describe the radiant beauty of celestial beings.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Mahnoor. One of the most famous was Mahnoor Begum (1593-1662), a princess of the Mughal Empire and the daughter of Emperor Jahangir. She was known for her exceptional beauty and intellect, and her name adorned many works of art and literature during the Mughal period.
Another historical figure was Mahnoor Bano (1820-1880), a prominent poet and scholar from the Indian subcontinent. Her poetry, written in Urdu and Persian, celebrated the themes of love, spirituality, and the beauty of nature. She was renowned for her mastery of language and her contributions to the literary traditions of the region.
In the realm of music, Mahnoor Sayed (1947-2012) was a celebrated Pakistani classical singer and composer. She was revered for her powerful vocal range and her ability to captivate audiences with her renditions of traditional Sufi and folk songs.
Mahnoor Arshad (born 1989) is a contemporary Pakistani actress and model who has gained widespread recognition for her performances in television dramas and films. Her talent and grace have earned her numerous awards and accolades.
Lastly, Mahnoor Baloch (born 1995) is a Pakistani activist and social media influencer known for her advocacy for women's rights and education. Her courageous efforts to raise awareness about gender inequality and human rights issues have inspired many around the globe.
People
Mahnoor + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mahnoor as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Mahnoor: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mahnoor?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 941 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mahnoor 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 364,245 US residents.
Is Mahnoor a common name?
We classify Mahnoor as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 953 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mahnoor most popular?
The single biggest year for Mahnoor was 2023, when 53 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mahnoor is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mahnoor in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,092 people with the name Mahnoor, or 0.36 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,658 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 Mahnoor 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 Mahnoor?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mahnoor appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,095 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Mahnoor?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mahnoor is Asian/Pacific Islander at 93.1%. The next largest groups are White (2.8%) and Two or More Races (2.2%). 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 Mahnoor most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Mahnoor in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.1% (1,017 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 Mahnoor in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mahnoor a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mahnoor 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 Mahnoor still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mahnoor 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 Mahnoor 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 share the name Mahnoor?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.