Munira
A feminine Arabic name meaning "luminous" or "enlightened one".
Name Census estimates that about 691 living Americans carry the first name Munira. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Munira today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Munira births was 2019 (43 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Munira. 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 Munira with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
691
~ 1 in 496,027 Americans
Peak year
2019
43 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,251
Tracked since 1981
Census
Munira in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,659 people with the first name Munira, which placed it at #8,681 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
#8,681
National first-name rank
People counted
1.7K
1,659 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
38.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Munira
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Munira is Asian/Pacific Islander at 38.5%. The next largest groups are Black (35.0%) and White (20.3%). 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 Munira 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 Munira at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander38.5% · 639
- Black or African American35.0% · 580
- White20.3% · 337
- Two or more races4.8% · 79
- Hispanic or Latino1.3% · 22
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 2
Popularity
Munira: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Munira 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 278 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Munira remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Munira 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 Munira during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Muniras live
Origin
Meaning and history of Munira
The name Munira has its roots in the Arabic language and is believed to have originated in the Middle East. It is derived from the Arabic word "nur," which means "light" or "illumination." The name is often associated with beauty, radiance, and enlightenment.
Munira was a popular name among Muslim communities in the medieval period, particularly in regions where Arabic influence was strong, such as the Middle East, North Africa, and parts of Europe. The name can be found in various historical texts and records from that era, including poetry and literature.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Munira comes from the 8th century, when a renowned Arab poet named Munira bint Al-Mutalammis lived. She was highly regarded for her literary talents and is considered one of the most influential female poets of the Abbasid era.
Another notable figure with the name Munira was Munira Al-Qubaysiyya, a 9th-century Arab singer and musician from Baghdad. She was renowned for her exceptional vocal talents and was a celebrated performer in the court of the Abbasid Caliphs.
In the 10th century, Munira bint al-Mu'tazz, a member of the Abbasid royal family, was known for her literary and poetic skills. She was highly educated and played an influential role in the cultural and intellectual life of the Abbasid court.
During the 12th century, Munira bint Al-Hasan Al-Nabulusi was a renowned scholar and poet from Damascus. She was highly respected for her knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence and literature and contributed significantly to the intellectual and cultural landscape of the region.
In the 19th century, Munira Thabit was a prominent Syrian writer and feminist activist. She was a pioneer in advocating for women's rights and education in the Arab world and played a significant role in the intellectual and social movements of her time.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Munira. The name has continued to be popular in various parts of the world, particularly in regions with significant Arab or Islamic cultural influence.
People
Munira + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Munira 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
Munira: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Munira?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 691 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Munira 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 496,027 US residents.
Is Munira a common name?
We classify Munira as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 699 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Munira most popular?
The single biggest year for Munira was 2019, when 43 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Munira is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Munira in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,659 people with the name Munira, or 0.55 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,681 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 Munira 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 Munira?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Munira appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,659 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Munira?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Munira is Asian/Pacific Islander at 38.5%. The next largest groups are Black (35.0%) and White (20.3%). 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 Munira most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Munira in the 2020 Census, accounting for 38.5% (639 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 Munira in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Munira a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Munira 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 Munira still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Munira 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 Munira 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 named Munira?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.