Manu

#4,485 in 2025Boys' name

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Manu has been given to 706 babies in the U.S. since 1972. In 2025 it ranked #4,485 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2006, with 27 recorded.

Babies named Manu, 2025

1 in 144,000

Manu over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Manu: meaning, origin, and history

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Sanskrit and Hawaiian

What Manu means

Manu has more than one naming route in the cited origin entries: “man, mankind” and “bird”.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

Transliteration of Sanskrit मनु (manu, “man, mankind”). Doublet of man and mann.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Manu (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Manu is used in English, Finnish, Hawaiian, Māori, Sandawe, Spanish and Walloon. Its origins include Sanskrit and Hawaiian.

Manu comes through Sanskrit मनु.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include मन, Immanuel, Manuel, man and mann.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Finnish, Manu is pronounced /ˈmɑnu/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 701 boys were recorded with the name Manu between 1972 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 27 in 2006; its best national rank was #2,859 in 1977.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #4,967 in 2020 to #4,485 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #5,431 in 2015 to #4,485 in 2025.

In the United States, 5 girls were recorded with the name Manu between 1996 and 1996. Its highest annual count was 5 in 1996; its best national rank was #14,915 in 1996.

How common is Manu?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025: 1 in 144,000; 23 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only: 1 in 74,300; <0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025: #4,485; of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size: 99,910 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Manu sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%

Class of 30Under 1%

Grade of 100Under 1%

School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 99,910 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Manu. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Manus were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Manu was born before 2006 — so the typical Manu is around 19 today.

Median birth year: 2006; About 19 years old
Biggest decade: 2000s; 25.2% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 63.6%; A modern name
Recorded since 1950: 701; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

2000s — 25.2% of all recorded uses (177).

Is Manu rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago: +878; Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago: +482; Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago: +946; Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago: 1.35×; More babies than then
Share of its own peak: 85.2%; Peak was 2006 (27)
Years since peak: 19; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Volatile; 27.1% average annual change
Best rank ever: #2,859; 1977

Spellings of Manu

Manu is not the most common spelling — Mark is, with 50.5% against Manu's 0.03%.

Mark50.5%1,362,176
Ian9.6%257,664
Manuel7.1%191,584
Max6.2%167,458
Marc5.2%140,604
Dan4.0%106,554
Zane2.1%56,664
Dana2.0%53,287

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Manu is used

Across 1910–2025, Manu was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 548,146 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in —).

00 per 100,000

State popularity map

Most concentrated

1California1 in —
2Texas1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Manu has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Manu around the world

Where Manu ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

England & Wales
1996–2025
#3,684
in 2025
France
1979–2023
#6,478
in 2023
Canada
1997–2024
#2,855
in 2024
South Australia
1980–1993
#519
in 1993

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Manu by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: #4,485
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: Up 482
Best rank ever: #2,859; 1977
Peak year: 2006; 27 that year
First recorded: 1972
Last recorded: 2025
All-time count: 701
Count in 2025: 23

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #14,915; 1996
Peak year: 1996; 5 that year
First recorded: 1996
Last recorded: 1996
All-time count: 5
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Manu

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

Manav Mang Manas Mansa Mana Mani Mannix Manraj Manolo Manly Manoah Mansur Manny Manvir Mansour Manan Manson Mann Mandel Mansoor Manish Manvik Mance Manual

Sibling names for Manu

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

For a sister

Tayla Yajaira Nyasia Jamya Yahaira Abigayle Jaylen Dayanara

For a brother

Nathen Jamarcus Gavyn Nevin Kadin Deshaun Tye Brandt

Explore around Manu

Top names of 2006, Manu's peak year The 2000s in full Other names that peaked in 1977 Boys' names starting with M Māori Boy Names Māori Names Samoan Boy Names Samoan Names Tongan Boy Names Tongan Names