Murial
Of Celtic origin, meaning "child of the sea".
Name Census estimates that about 25 living Americans carry the first name Murial. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Murial today is around 78 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Murial births was 1920 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Murial. 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
- • The typical person named Murial is about 78 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Murials were born before 1958.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Murial. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
25
~ 1 in 13,710,174 Americans
Peak year
1920
12 babies that year
Average age
78
years old
1966 SSA rank
#6,328
Tracked since 1901
Census
Murial in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 169 people with the first name Murial, which placed it at #42,487 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
#42,487
National first-name rank
People counted
169
169 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
64.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Murial
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Murial is White at 64.5%. The next largest groups are Black (23.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.3%). 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 Murial 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 Murial at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White64.5% · 109
- Black or African American23.7% · 40
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.3% · 9
- Hispanic or Latino3.6% · 6
- Two or more races2.4% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 1
Popularity
Murial: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Murial from the 1900s through to the 1960s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 81 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Murial 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 Murial during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Murial
The name Murial is a variant spelling of the more common name Muriel, which has its origins in the ancient Greek language. The name Muriel is derived from the Greek word "myrrha," which means "myrrh," a fragrant resin used in ancient times for incense and perfumes.
In the early Christian era, the name Muriel gained popularity as a reference to the Virgin Mary, who is often associated with myrrh in the biblical accounts of Jesus' birth and death. The name was particularly common among French and English families during the Middle Ages.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Muriel can be found in the 12th century French epic poem "The Song of Roland," where a character named Muriel is mentioned. This suggests that the name was in use in France during that time period.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Murial or its variant spellings. Muriel de Ghivry (c. 1210-1285) was a French noblewoman and benefactress of religious orders. Muriel Spark (1918-2006) was a renowned Scottish novelist and poet, known for her satirical and darkly humorous works.
Muriel Rukeyser (1913-1980) was an American poet and political activist who advocated for social justice and women's rights. Muriel Siebert (1928-2013) was a trailblazing American businesswoman and the first woman to own a seat on the New York Stock Exchange.
Muriel Duckworth (1908-2009) was a Canadian activist and pacifist who campaigned for social and environmental causes throughout her long life. These are just a few examples of the many influential individuals who have carried the name Murial or its variants over the centuries.
People
Murial + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Murial 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
Murial: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Murial?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 25 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Murial 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 13,710,174 US residents.
Is Murial a common name?
We classify Murial as "Very Rare". It ranks above 43.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 207 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Murial most popular?
The single biggest year for Murial was 1920, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Murial is about 78 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Murial in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 169 people with the name Murial, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #42,487 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 Murial 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 Murial?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Murial leans strongly female. 163 people counted with this name were female (93.1%), compared with 12 male bearers (6.9%). 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 Murial?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Murial is White at 64.5%. The next largest groups are Black (23.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.3%). 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 Murial most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Murial in the 2020 Census, accounting for 64.5% (109 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 Murial in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Murial a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Murial 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 Murial still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Murial 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 Murial 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 Murial?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.