Moosa
Derived from the Arabic name Musa, meaning "drawn from the water".
Name Census estimates that about 274 living Americans carry the first name Moosa. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Moosa today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Moosa births was 2017 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Moosa. 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 Moosa with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
274
~ 1 in 1,250,928 Americans
Peak year
2017
23 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,850
Tracked since 1998
Census
Moosa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 327 people with the first name Moosa, which placed it at #27,781 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
#27,781
National first-name rank
People counted
327
327 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
69.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Moosa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Moosa is Asian/Pacific Islander at 69.7%. The next largest groups are White (20.8%) and Two or More Races (5.5%). 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 Moosa 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 Moosa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander69.7% · 228
- White20.8% · 68
- Two or more races5.5% · 18
- Black or African American2.8% · 9
- Hispanic or Latino0.6% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 2
Popularity
Moosa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Moosa from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 139 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Moosa remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Moosa 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 Moosa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Moosas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Moosa
The given name Moosa has its origins in the Arabic language and culture, tracing back to ancient times. It is derived from the Arabic root word "mawsa," which means "he who walks with tranquil steps" or "the one who is guided." This name carries a spiritual and peaceful connotation.
In the Islamic tradition, Moosa is an alternative spelling of the name Musa, which is the Arabic rendition of the biblical name Moses. This connection links the name to the revered prophet Moses, who is a central figure in the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The name Moosa appears in the Quran, the holy book of Islam, as a reference to the prophet who led the Israelites out of Egypt.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Moosa can be found in the historical accounts of the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates, which ruled over vast territories in the Middle East and North Africa between the 7th and 13th centuries. During this period, several prominent scholars, poets, and leaders bore the name Moosa.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have carried the name Moosa. One such figure was Moosa al-Kazemi (1737-1797), a prominent Shia scholar and theologian from Iran who made significant contributions to the field of Islamic jurisprudence. Another was Moosa bin Nusair (699-715 CE), an Arab general who played a crucial role in the Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula.
In the realm of literature, Moosa Jalili (1892-1950) was an influential Persian poet and writer who gained recognition for his lyrical and mystical works. Moosa Konneh (1951-2003) was a Liberian politician and human rights activist who fought against the oppressive regime of Samuel Doe in the 1980s.
Moosa Fareed Naweed (1894-1977) was a prominent Afghan poet and writer who is considered one of the pioneers of modern Afghan literature. His works explored themes of nationalism, social reform, and the promotion of the Pashto language and culture.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who carried the name Moosa, each leaving their mark in various fields and contributing to the rich tapestry of human civilization.
People
Moosa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Moosa 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
Moosa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Moosa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 274 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Moosa 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 1,250,928 US residents.
Is Moosa a common name?
We classify Moosa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 277 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Moosa most popular?
The single biggest year for Moosa was 2017, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Moosa is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Moosa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 327 people with the name Moosa, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #27,781 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 Moosa 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 Moosa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Moosa leans strongly male. 320 people counted with this name were male (98.8%), compared with 4 female bearers (1.2%). 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 Moosa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Moosa is Asian/Pacific Islander at 69.7%. The next largest groups are White (20.8%) and Two or More Races (5.5%). 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 Moosa most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Moosa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.7% (228 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 Moosa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Moosa a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Moosa 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 Moosa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Moosa 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 Moosa 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 called Moosa?
You can see how many Americans are named Moosa on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.