Moe
A diminutive form of the name Moses, bearing the Hebrew meaning "from the water".
Name Census estimates that about 202 living Americans carry the first name Moe. It is a predominantly male name (92.1% of registrations). The average person named Moe today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Moe births was 1916 (49 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Moe. 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.
People living today
202
~ 1 in 1,696,804 Americans
Peak year
1916
49 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,527
Tracked since 1888
Gender
Gender distribution for Moe
Moe leans heavily male at 92.1% of total registrations, but 62 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Moe as a male name
- Ranked #10,527 in 2024
- 7 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1916 (49 births)
Moe as a female name
- Ranked #17,377 in 2018
- 5 female births in 2018
- Peak: 2010 (9 births)
Popularity
Moe: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Moe from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 327 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1910s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Moe 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 Moe during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Moes live
Origin
Meaning and history of Moe
The name Moe has its origins in several different languages and cultures, with various meanings and etymologies attributed to it.
In English, Moe is often regarded as a diminutive form of the name Maurice, which is derived from the Roman name Mauritius, meaning "dark-skinned" or "moorish." The name Maurice was introduced to England by the Normans and gained popularity during the Middle Ages.
However, Moe also has roots in Japanese culture, where it is a common surname and occasionally a given name. In Japanese, the name 円 (Moe) can mean "circle," "round," or "whole." It is often associated with concepts of completeness, harmony, and unity.
In Arabic, the name موسى (Musa) is a variant of the name Moses, which is derived from the Hebrew name משה (Mosheh), meaning "to draw out" or "to pull out." This name has significant religious and historical significance in the Abrahamic faiths, as it refers to the biblical prophet Moses who led the Israelites out of Egypt.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Moe can be found in ancient Japanese literature, where it appears in the 8th-century poetry anthology "Manyoshu." In the Western world, the name gained prominence during the Middle Ages, with notable figures such as Moe of Chartres, a 12th-century French philosopher and theologian.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals with the first name Moe:
1. Moe Howard (1897-1975), an American actor and comedian, best known as the leader of the Three Stooges comedy team.
2. Moe Yagin (1911-1998), an Israeli politician and one of the signatories of the Israeli Declaration of Independence.
3. Moe Bandy (born 1944), an American country music singer and songwriter.
4. Moe Drabowsky (1935-2006), an American professional baseball player who played for several teams in Major League Baseball.
5. Moe Szyslak, a fictional character from the animated sitcom "The Simpsons," known as the bartender at Moe's Tavern.
These examples illustrate the diverse cultural and historical contexts in which the name Moe has been used, reflecting its rich linguistic heritage and enduring popularity across various societies.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Moe
People
Moe + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Moe 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
Moe: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Moe?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 202 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Moe 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 1,696,804 US residents.
Is Moe a common name?
We classify Moe as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 786 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Moe most popular?
The single biggest year for Moe was 1916, when 49 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Moe is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Moe a male name?
Yes, 92.1% of people registered as Moe 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.
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.