Moesha
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "life" or "alive".
Name Census estimates that about 1,040 living Americans carry the first name Moesha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Moesha today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Moesha births was 1996 (426 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Moesha. 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
1.0K
~ 1 in 329,571 Americans
Peak year
1996
426 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
2014 SSA rank
#18,391
Tracked since 1996
Popularity
Moesha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Moesha from the 1990s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 820 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Moesha 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 Moesha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Moeshas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 24 states and territories. Florida, North Carolina, Georgia recorded the most babies named Moesha, while Oklahoma, Kentucky, District of Columbia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 33 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Moesha
The name Moesha is a modern invention that gained popularity in the late 20th century, particularly after the launch of the American sitcom "Moesha" in 1996. It is not derived from any specific language or culture and does not have a clear etymological origin.
While the name may have been inspired by existing names such as Moisha or Moisha, both of which have Hebrew origins, Moesha itself does not have any recorded historical references or appearances in ancient texts, religious scriptures, or historical records prior to the 20th century.
The earliest recorded examples of the name Moesha can be traced back to the late 1980s and early 1990s in the United States, likely influenced by the growing popularity of unique and unconventional names during that time period.
As for famous individuals with the name Moesha, the most notable is Moesha Mitchell, an American actress born in 1981, who starred in the sitcom "Moesha" from 1996 to 2001. Other notable individuals with the first name Moesha include:
1. Moesha Trahan, an American model and Instagram influencer born in 1992.
2. Moesha Belcher, a Jamaican track and field athlete born in 1987.
3. Moesha Buchert, an American professional wrestler born in 1991.
4. Moesha Kleinsmith, a South African cricketer born in 1995.
5. Moesha Brancati, an American actress and singer born in 1987.
It's important to note that while the name Moesha has gained popularity in recent decades, it does not have a long historical lineage or a well-documented origin story compared to many other traditional names.
People
Moesha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Moesha 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
Moesha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Moesha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,040 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Moesha 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 329,571 US residents.
Is Moesha a common name?
We classify Moesha as "Rare". It ranks above 90.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,067 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Moesha most popular?
The single biggest year for Moesha was 1996, when 426 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Moesha is about 28 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Moesha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Moesha 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.
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.