Mu
An ancient word of uncertain meaning, sometimes related to nothingness or void.
Name Census estimates that about 17 living Americans carry the first name Mu. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 58.8% of registrations being female. The average person named Mu today is around 4 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mu births was 2021 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mu. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Mu. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
17
~ 1 in 20,162,020 Americans
Peak year
2021
7 babies that year
Average age
4
years old
2021 SSA rank
#10,440
Tracked since 2021
Census
Mu in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,334 people with the first name Mu, which placed it at #6,762 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
#6,762
National first-name rank
People counted
2.3K
2,334 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
96.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mu
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mu is Asian/Pacific Islander at 96.4%. The next largest groups are White (1.7%) and Black (0.9%). 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 Mu 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 Mu at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander96.4% · 2,251
- White1.7% · 40
- Black or African American0.9% · 22
- Hispanic or Latino0.4% · 9
- Two or more races0.3% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Mu
Mu is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 17 total registrations, 7 (41.2%) were male and 10 (58.8%) were female.
Mu as a male name
- Ranked #10,440 in 2021
- 7 male births in 2021
- Peak: 2021 (7 births)
Mu as a female name
- Ranked #16,829 in 2023
- 5 female births in 2023
- Peak: 2022 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Mu on both sides of the split. Of the 2,341 people counted with this name, 576 were male (24.6%) and 1,765 were female (75.4%).
Popularity
Mu: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Mu 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 Mu during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 7 | 10 | 17 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Mu
The name Mu originates from the ancient Egyptian language and can be traced back to around 3100 BC. It is derived from the hieroglyphic symbol representing water, which was a highly revered element in Egyptian culture. The name Mu was often associated with the Nile River, considered the source of life and fertility in ancient Egypt.
One of the earliest known references to the name Mu can be found in the Pyramid Texts, a collection of ancient Egyptian funerary inscriptions dating back to the Old Kingdom period (c. 2686-2181 BC). These texts mention the name in connection with various deities and rituals related to the afterlife.
In ancient Egyptian mythology, Mu was also the name of a primordial god associated with water and creation. According to some legends, Mu was believed to have existed before the creation of the world and played a crucial role in the emergence of life from the primordial waters.
The name Mu gained popularity among royalty and nobility in ancient Egypt. One notable figure bearing this name was Mu, a prince and military commander who lived during the 18th Dynasty (c. 1550-1292 BC). He was known for his bravery and leadership in several military campaigns.
Another historical figure with the name Mu was a high-ranking official and architect who lived during the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses II (c. 1279-1213 BC). He was responsible for overseeing the construction of several monumental structures, including temples and tombs in the ancient city of Thebes.
Outside of ancient Egypt, the name Mu has been recorded in various other cultures and civilizations throughout history. In ancient Greece, the name was sometimes used as a variant of the name Momus, which was associated with the personification of satire and mockery.
In Chinese culture, the character 穆 (Mu) has been used as a name or part of a name, often carrying connotations of dignity, solemnity, and reverence. One notable bearer of this name was Mu Guiying (c. 624-680 AD), a renowned female general during the Tang Dynasty.
In Japanese culture, the name Mu has been associated with concepts of nothingness, emptiness, and zen philosophy. The Zen master Mumon Ekai (c. 1183-1260 AD) is particularly well-known for compiling the influential collection of koans (paradoxical riddles) known as the Mumonkan.
People
Mu + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mu 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
Mu: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mu?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 17 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mu 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 20,162,020 US residents.
Is Mu a common name?
We classify Mu as "Very Rare". It ranks above 37.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 17 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mu most popular?
The single biggest year for Mu was 2021, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mu is about 4 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mu in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,334 people with the name Mu, or 0.77 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,762 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 Mu 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 Mu?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Mu on both sides of the split. Of the 2,341 people counted with this name, 576 were male (24.6%) and 1,765 were female (75.4%). 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 Mu?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mu is Asian/Pacific Islander at 96.4%. The next largest groups are White (1.7%) and Black (0.9%). 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 Mu most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Mu in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.4% (2,251 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 Mu in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mu a female name?
Yes, 58.8% of people registered as Mu 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 Mu still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mu 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 Mu 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 Americans are named Mu?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.