Menucha
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "rest", "tranquility" or "repose".
Name Census estimates that about 604 living Americans carry the first name Menucha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Menucha today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Menucha births was 2023 (33 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Menucha. 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 Menucha with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
604
~ 1 in 567,474 Americans
Peak year
2023
33 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,374
Tracked since 1981
Census
Menucha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 455 people with the first name Menucha, which placed it at #22,044 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
#22,044
National first-name rank
People counted
455
455 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
95.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Menucha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Menucha is White at 95.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.8%) and Two or More Races (1.3%). 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 Menucha 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 Menucha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White95.8% · 436
- Hispanic or Latino1.8% · 8
- Two or more races1.3% · 6
- Black or African American0.7% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 2
Popularity
Menucha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Menucha from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 222 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Menucha remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Menucha 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 Menucha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Menuchas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. New York, New Jersey, California recorded the most babies named Menucha, while California, New Jersey, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 94 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Menucha
The name Menucha originates from the Hebrew language and culture. It is a feminine form of the Hebrew word "menucha," which means "rest" or "repose." The name can be traced back to ancient times and is mentioned in various religious and historical texts.
In the Bible, the word "menucha" appears several times, often in the context of finding rest or peace. For instance, in the book of Deuteronomy, God promises the Israelites that they will find "menucha" (rest) in the Promised Land after their wanderings in the wilderness.
The earliest recorded examples of the name Menucha can be found in ancient Hebrew inscriptions and manuscripts dating back to the first millennium BCE. During this time, the name was likely given to girls as a way of expressing a wish for them to find rest and peace in their lives.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Menucha. One of the earliest examples is Menucha bat Shlomo, a Jewish scholar and poet who lived in Spain during the 12th century CE. Her works, which include religious poetry and commentary on the Bible, have been preserved and studied by scholars.
Another prominent figure was Menucha Gilboa, an Israeli author and playwright born in 1920. She wrote numerous novels, short stories, and plays that explored themes of identity, family, and the struggles of modern life in Israel. Her works were celebrated for their literary merit and social commentary.
In the realm of religion, Menucha Rochel Slonim (1798-1888) was a renowned Hasidic leader and scholar. She was the daughter of the famous Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement, and played a significant role in guiding and inspiring the Hasidic community.
Menucha Barenholz Levy (1896-1970) was a pioneering Zionist activist and educator. She was involved in the establishment of several educational institutions in pre-state Israel and worked tirelessly to promote Hebrew language and culture among the Jewish diaspora.
Finally, Menucha Peterfreund (1928-1986) was an Israeli artist and sculptor known for her abstract and symbolic works. Her sculptures, often inspired by biblical themes and Jewish mysticism, can be found in public spaces and galleries throughout Israel.
While the name Menucha has its roots in ancient Hebrew culture, it has transcended its origins and been embraced by various communities around the world, serving as a reminder of the universal desire for peace and rest.
People
Menucha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Menucha 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
Menucha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Menucha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 604 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Menucha 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 567,474 US residents.
Is Menucha a common name?
We classify Menucha 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, 612 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Menucha most popular?
The single biggest year for Menucha was 2023, when 33 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Menucha is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Menucha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 455 people with the name Menucha, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,044 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 Menucha 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 Menucha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Menucha appears almost entirely female. Of the 456 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 Menucha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Menucha is White at 95.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.8%) and Two or More Races (1.3%). 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 Menucha most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Menucha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.8% (436 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 Menucha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Menucha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Menucha 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 Menucha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Menucha 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 Menucha 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 Menucha as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Menucha, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.