Mir
A Persian name meaning "leader" or "prince".
Name Census estimates that about 526 living Americans carry the first name Mir. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Mir today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mir births was 2017 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mir. 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 Mir with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
526
~ 1 in 651,624 Americans
Peak year
2017
20 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,163
Tracked since 1972
Census
Mir in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,951 people with the first name Mir, which placed it at #7,707 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
#7,707
National first-name rank
People counted
2.0K
1,951 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
77.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mir
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mir is Asian/Pacific Islander at 77.1%. The next largest groups are White (11.1%) and Two or More Races (6.0%). 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 Mir 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 Mir at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander77.1% · 1,505
- White11.1% · 216
- Two or more races6.0% · 117
- Black or African American3.4% · 66
- Hispanic or Latino2.4% · 47
Popularity
Mir: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mir from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 151 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Mir remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mir 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 Mir during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mirs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. New York, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Mir, while Illinois, Texas, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 10 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mir
The name Mir has its origins in the Persian language, where it is derived from the word "mir," meaning "prince" or "leader." This name has been in use for centuries and has a rich historical significance.
The name Mir can be traced back to the ancient Persian empires, where it was often used as a title for nobles and rulers. It was particularly popular during the Sassanid Empire, which ruled over Persia from the 3rd to the 7th century AD.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Mir can be found in the Shahnameh, a famous Persian epic poem written by Ferdowsi in the late 10th century AD. The poem mentions several characters with the name Mir, including Mir Sohrab, a legendary warrior.
Throughout history, there have been several notable figures who bore the name Mir. One of the most famous was Mir Jafar Ali Khan Bahadur (1691-1765), who served as the Nawab of Bengal and played a pivotal role in the Battle of Plassey, which marked the beginning of British rule in India.
Another prominent figure was Mir Taqi Mir (1723-1810), a renowned Urdu poet who is considered one of the founders of the Urdu literary tradition. His ghazals (poetic compositions) are widely celebrated and have influenced generations of poets.
In the Islamic world, the name Mir has been associated with religious scholars and spiritual leaders. One such figure was Mir Syed Ali Hamadani (1314-1384), a prominent Sufi saint and scholar who played a significant role in spreading Islam in Kashmir and parts of Central Asia.
The name Mir has also been popular among rulers and monarchs. One example is Mir Muhammed Taqi Khan Fath-Ali Shah Qajar (1772-1834), who ruled as the second Shah of the Qajar dynasty in Persia from 1797 until his death.
Other notable individuals with the name Mir include Mir Alam Khan (1670-1719), a Mughal governor and military commander, and Mir Osman Ali Khan (1886-1967), the last Nizam of Hyderabad and one of the wealthiest men in the world during his lifetime.
People
Mir + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mir 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
Mir: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mir?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 526 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mir 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 651,624 US residents.
Is Mir a common name?
We classify Mir as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 535 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mir most popular?
The single biggest year for Mir was 2017, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mir is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mir in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,951 people with the name Mir, or 0.65 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,707 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 Mir 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 Mir?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mir leans strongly male. 1,789 people counted with this name were male (91.7%), compared with 162 female bearers (8.3%). 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 Mir?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mir is Asian/Pacific Islander at 77.1%. The next largest groups are White (11.1%) and Two or More Races (6.0%). 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 Mir most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Mir in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.1% (1,505 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 Mir in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mir a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mir in the SSA data are male. 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 Mir still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mir 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 Mir 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 are named Mir?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.