Moussa
A masculine Arabic name derived from Moses meaning "saved from water".
Name Census estimates that about 1,045 living Americans carry the first name Moussa. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Moussa today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Moussa births was 2013 (46 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Moussa. 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 Moussa with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Moussa is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 16 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.0K
~ 1 in 327,995 Americans
Peak year
2013
46 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,489
Tracked since 1988
Census
Moussa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,249 people with the first name Moussa, which placed it at #6,949 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
#6,949
National first-name rank
People counted
2.2K
2,249 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
66.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Moussa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Moussa is Black at 66.9%. The next largest groups are White (27.9%) and Two or More Races (3.3%). 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 Moussa 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 Moussa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American66.9% · 1,504
- White27.9% · 627
- Two or more races3.3% · 75
- Hispanic or Latino1.2% · 26
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 2
Popularity
Moussa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Moussa from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 403 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Moussa remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Moussa 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 Moussa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Moussas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Moussa, while Texas, Georgia, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 59 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Moussa
The name Moussa is a masculine given name of Arabic origin, derived from the Semitic root "mšh" meaning "to walk" or "to depart." It is a variant spelling of the name Moses, which has its roots in the ancient Hebrew language. The name is closely associated with the Biblical prophet Moses, who is revered in both Judaism and Islam.
In Islamic tradition, Moussa is considered the Arabic equivalent of the Hebrew name Moshe, bestowed upon the prophet who led the Israelites out of Egypt and received the Ten Commandments from God. The Qur'an recounts the story of Moussa extensively, depicting him as a prominent messenger of Allah.
The earliest recorded use of the name Moussa can be traced back to the 7th century CE, during the Islamic Golden Age. It became a popular name among Muslim communities, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa, where Arabic culture and language flourished.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Moussa. One of the most famous was Moussa al-Kazim (699-799 CE), the seventh Imam in Shia Islam and a highly revered scholar known for his wisdom and piety. Another prominent figure was Moussa ibn Nusair (640-715 CE), a military leader and governor during the Umayyad Caliphate.
In the realm of literature, Moussa bin Shākir al-Rababah (1845-1917) was a renowned Jordanian poet and writer who played a significant role in preserving Arabic literary traditions. Moussa Ibrahim Nawfal (1860-1942) was a prominent Egyptian historian and author who made significant contributions to the study of Islamic history and culture.
During the 20th century, Moussa Lakhdar (1925-2015) was an Algerian revolutionary and politician who played a pivotal role in the Algerian War of Independence against French colonial rule. He later served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Algeria.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have carried the name Moussa throughout history, reflecting its enduring significance across various cultures and regions influenced by Arabic and Islamic traditions.
People
Moussa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Moussa 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
Moussa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Moussa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,045 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Moussa 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 327,995 US residents.
Is Moussa a common name?
We classify Moussa 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, 1,057 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Moussa most popular?
The single biggest year for Moussa was 2013, when 46 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Moussa is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Moussa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,249 people with the name Moussa, or 0.74 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,949 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 Moussa 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 Moussa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Moussa leans strongly male. 2,216 people counted with this name were male (98.7%), compared with 29 female bearers (1.3%). 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 Moussa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Moussa is Black at 66.9%. The next largest groups are White (27.9%) and Two or More Races (3.3%). 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 Moussa most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Moussa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.9% (1,504 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 Moussa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Moussa a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Moussa 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 Moussa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Moussa 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 Moussa 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 common is the name Moussa?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.