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Moira

#2,047 in 2025Girls' name

Possibly to be bitter, through Máire

Moira has been given to 7,941 babies in the U.S. since 1913. In 2025 it ranked #2,047 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 1963, with 144 recorded.

Babies named Moira, 2025

1 in 35,600

Moira over time, 1880–2025

Girls
05010015018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Moira: meaning, origin, and history

Possibly to be bitter, through Máire

Irish

What Moira means

Moira belongs to the name family reached through Moira → Máire → Maria → מרים. Its meaning is “to be bitter”.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

Anglicized from Irish Máire, a cognate of Mary. Doublet of Maura.

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

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Moira is used in English. Its origins include Irish.

Moira comes through Irish Máire.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Maura, Máire, Maria and מרים.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Moira is pronounced /ˈmɔɪɹə/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 7,941 girls were recorded with the name Moira between 1913 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 144 in 1963; its best national rank was #834 in 1965.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #1,802 in 2020 to #2,047 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #1,638 in 2015 to #2,047 in 2025.

How common is Moira?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 35,600
93 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 17,300
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#2,047
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
24,710 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Moira sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

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 5001%

Put another way: gather 24,710 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Moira. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Moiras were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Moira was born before 1991 — so the typical Moira is around 34 today.

Median birth year
1991
About 34 years old
Biggest decade
2000s
15.3% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
36.6%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
7,454
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2000s — 15.3% of all recorded uses (1,215).

Is Moira 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
−139
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−245
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−409
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.71×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
64.6%
Peak was 1963 (144)
Years since peak
62
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Steady
11.2% average annual change
Best rank ever
#834
1965

Spellings of Moira

Moira is not the most common spelling — Mia is, with 18.2% against Moira's 0.47%.

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 Moira is used

Across 2016–2025, Moira was most concentrated in Washington — about 1 in 6,667 girls, against 1 in 18,065 across all states with data. It was least common in New Jersey (1 in 100,000).

115 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Washington1 in 6,667
  2. 2Ohio1 in 10,000
  3. 3Pennsylvania1 in 10,000
  4. 4Michigan1 in 11,111
  5. 5Minnesota1 in 11,111
  6. 6Oregon1 in 12,500
  7. 7Illinois1 in 16,667
  8. 8California1 in 20,000

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls 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.

Moira around the world

Where Moira 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
    #2,605
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    1974–2025
    #780
    in 2025
  • Northern Ireland
    2022–2022
    #418
    in 2022
  • Ireland
    1964–2025
    #608
    in 2025
  • France
    1961–2025
    #682
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1991–2024
    #1,469
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1944–2012
    #871
    in 2012

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

Notable people named Moira

People whose public names include Moira, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Moira in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Moira. Linked forms have their own page here.

MairaMariaMoriaMoyraMoriahMáire

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Moira by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#2,047
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 245
Best rank ever
#834
1965
Peak year
1963
144 that year
First recorded
1913
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
7,941
Count in 2025
93

Names similar to Moira

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

AkiraMairaShiraZairaSairaSamiraKairaAmiraYadiraElmiraMiraAdiraKeiraShakiraMeiraIraYaniraDairaClairaYajairaIndiraYahairaElviraNaira

Names with a curve like Moira

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Moira, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

DariaBrigidMilagrosLaniBronwynAidaAnnamarieRosarioRayleneStarGracielaLinnea

Sibling names for Moira

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

Explore around Moira

Top names of 1963, Moira's peak yearThe 1960s in fullOther names that peaked in 1965Girls' names starting with MIrish Girl Names