Moon
A name with origins meaning "moon" or "lunar."
Name Census estimates that about 556 living Americans carry the first name Moon. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 73.5% of registrations being female. The average person named Moon today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Moon births was 2022 (95 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Moon. 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 Moon with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
556
~ 1 in 616,465 Americans
Peak year
2022
95 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,355
Tracked since 1972
Census
Moon in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,468 people with the first name Moon, which placed it at #6,488 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
#6,488
National first-name rank
People counted
2.5K
2,468 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
84.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Moon
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Moon is Asian/Pacific Islander at 84.0%. The next largest groups are White (7.4%) and Hispanic (3.4%). 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 Moon 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 Moon at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander84.0% · 2,073
- White7.4% · 183
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 83
- Black or African American2.6% · 64
- Two or more races1.9% · 46
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 19
Gender
Gender distribution for Moon
Moon is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 562 total registrations, 149 (26.5%) were male and 413 (73.5%) were female.
Moon as a male name
- Ranked #5,800 in 2024
- 16 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (28 births)
Moon as a female name
- Ranked #3,355 in 2024
- 47 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (73 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Moon on both sides of the split. Of the 2,478 people counted with this name, 1,150 were male (46.4%) and 1,328 were female (53.6%).
Popularity
Moon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Moon from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 345 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Moon 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 Moon during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Moons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Moon, while Ohio, Florida, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 21 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Moon
The name Moon has its origins in the Middle English word "mone," which was derived from the Old English "mōna." This word can be traced back to the Proto-Germanic "mēnōn," which ultimately comes from the Proto-Indo-European root "*me(n)ses-," meaning "moon" or "month." The name Moon is closely connected to the celestial body that orbits the Earth, and its usage as a given name reflects a longstanding human fascination with the Moon and its significance in various cultures.
In ancient times, the Moon held great symbolic importance in many belief systems. In Greek mythology, the goddess Selene was associated with the Moon, and her chariot was believed to carry the Moon across the night sky. Similarly, in Roman mythology, the goddess Luna was the personification of the Moon. The Moon's cycles and phases have also been celebrated in various religious and cultural traditions, including pagan festivals and rituals.
One of the earliest recorded instances of Moon as a given name can be found in the English Parish Registers from the 16th century. However, its usage as a first name was relatively uncommon until the 20th century when it gained popularity, particularly in the United States.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who have borne the name Moon. One of the most famous was Moon Zhi Gang (1919-1944), a Chinese revolutionary and communist leader who played a significant role in the Chinese Civil War. Another prominent figure was Moon Sung-shik (1811-1895), a Korean statesman and diplomat who served as the Prime Minister of Korea during the late 19th century.
In the realm of literature, Moon Choi (1931-2016) was a Korean-American writer and author of the novel "The Calligrapher's Daughter." Moon Bloodgood (born in 1975) is an American actress known for her roles in films such as "Terminator Salvation" and the television series "Falling Skies."
Another notable individual was Moon Currin (1890-1943), an American outlaw and bank robber who was active during the early 20th century. Despite his criminal activities, he gained a certain level of notoriety and became a part of American folklore, embodying the romanticized image of the outlaw in the Old West.
While the name Moon has its roots in ancient linguistic and cultural traditions, it has maintained a presence throughout history, and its connection to the celestial body has imbued it with a sense of mystique and fascination.
People
Moon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Moon 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
Moon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Moon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 556 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Moon 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 616,465 US residents.
Is Moon a common name?
We classify Moon as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 562 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Moon most popular?
The single biggest year for Moon was 2022, when 95 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Moon is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Moon in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,468 people with the name Moon, or 0.82 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,488 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 Moon 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 Moon?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Moon on both sides of the split. Of the 2,478 people counted with this name, 1,150 were male (46.4%) and 1,328 were female (53.6%). 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 Moon?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Moon is Asian/Pacific Islander at 84.0%. The next largest groups are White (7.4%) and Hispanic (3.4%). 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 Moon most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Moon in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.0% (2,073 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 Moon in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Moon a female name?
Yes, 73.5% of people registered as Moon 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 Moon still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Moon 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 Moon 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 Moon as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Moon on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.