Urwa
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "solid ground" or "desert peak".
Name Census estimates that about 68 living Americans carry the first name Urwa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Urwa today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Urwa births was 2013 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Urwa. 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 Urwa with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Urwa. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
68
~ 1 in 5,040,505 Americans
Peak year
2013
9 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#15,069
Tracked since 2011
Popularity
Urwa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Urwa from the 2010s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 46 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Urwa remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Urwa 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 Urwa 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 Urwa
The name Urwa has its origins in the Arabic language and culture, dating back to the 7th century CE. It is derived from the Arabic word 'urwah,' which means 'a handhold' or 'a firm foothold.' The name is associated with strength, steadfastness, and reliability.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Urwa can be found in the Qur'an, the holy book of Islam. Urwa ibn Mas'ud, a companion of the Prophet Muhammad, is mentioned in the Qur'an as a distinguished figure who played a role in the early days of Islam.
In the historical records of the early Islamic era, Urwa ibn Zubayr (642-712 CE) was a prominent scholar and jurist from Medina. He was renowned for his knowledge of hadith (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad) and Islamic jurisprudence. His works and teachings significantly influenced the development of Islamic thought and law.
Another notable figure bearing the name Urwa was Urwa ibn al-Ward (623-708 CE), a renowned poet from the Umayyad era. His poetry, which often celebrated the virtues of courage and chivalry, has been widely anthologized and studied by scholars of Arabic literature.
In the medieval period, Urwa al-Qurtubi (1057-1141 CE) was a distinguished Islamic scholar and jurist from Cordoba, Spain. He made significant contributions to the field of Maliki jurisprudence and authored several influential works on Islamic law and theology.
Another prominent figure with the name Urwa was Urwa al-Husayn (1563-1637 CE), a renowned scholar and poet from Persia (present-day Iran). He was widely acclaimed for his mastery of Persian literature and his contributions to the development of the Persian poetic tradition.
These are just a few examples of the historical figures who bore the name Urwa. Throughout the centuries, the name has carried a rich legacy of scholarship, literature, and religious significance within the Arabic and Islamic cultural spheres.
People
Urwa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Urwa as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with U
Other first names starting with U with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Urwa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Urwa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 68 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Urwa 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 5,040,505 US residents.
Is Urwa a common name?
We classify Urwa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 58.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 68 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Urwa most popular?
The single biggest year for Urwa was 2013, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Urwa is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Urwa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Urwa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Urwa 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 Urwa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Urwa 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 Urwa 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are named Urwa?
Find out how many Americans are named Urwa on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.