Name Awesome

Nou

UnisexGirls' nameBoys' name

Sun

Nou has been given to 408 babies in the U.S. since 1979. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1993, with 34 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 86% girls, 14% boys all-time.

Babies named Nou, 2000

1 in 420,000

Nou over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
01020304018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Nou over time

In 2000, Nou went to 100% girls and 0% boys.

19792000

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Nou: meaning, origin, and history

Sun

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Nou means

Nou means “sun”.

Documented naming usage and pronunciation

Nou is used in Hmong.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 352 girls were recorded with the name Nou between 1979 and 2000. Its highest annual count was 34 in 1993; its best national rank was #3,200 in 1988.

In the United States, 56 boys were recorded with the name Nou between 1986 and 1995. Its highest annual count was 12 in 1992; its best national rank was #4,775 in 1992.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

How common is Nou?

Nou had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2000, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2000
1 in 420,000
9 of 3,778,496 births
Among girls only
1 in 202,000
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2000
Unranked
Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size
291,007 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Nou 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 2000 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 291,007 children born in 2000 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Nou. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Nous were born

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

Median birth year
1991
About 34 years old
Biggest decade
1990s
54.3% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
100.0%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
352
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1990s — 54.3% of all recorded uses (191).

Is Nou 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
—
Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago
New entry
Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago
—
Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago
—
Not published both years
Share of its own peak
0%
Peak was 1993 (34)
Years since peak
32
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
36.2% average annual change
Best rank ever
#3,200
1988

Where Nou is used — girls

Across 1910–2025, Nou was most concentrated in California — about 1 in 100,000 girls, against 1 in 111,432 across all states with data. It was least common in Wisconsin (1 in —).

01 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in 100,000
  2. 2Minnesota1 in 100,000
  3. 3Wisconsin1 in —

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. Nou has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Where Nou is used — boys

Across 1910–2025, Nou was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 2,905,450 across all states with data.

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 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. Nou has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Nou around the world

Where Nou 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.

  • France
    1978–1991
    #3,421
    in 1991

Popularity data from Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0.

Nou by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#3,200
1988
Peak year
1993
34 that year
First recorded
1979
Last recorded
2000
All-time count
352
Count in 2025
Under 5

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#4,775
1992
Peak year
1992
12 that year
First recorded
1986
Last recorded
1995
All-time count
56
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Nou

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

NoufNouriNouraNourNourahNouranNourhanNoureenGaonouNouciNouhaNoucheeMainouKaonouNouvelle

Sibling names for Nou

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 Nou

Top names of 1993, Nou's peak yearThe 1990s in fullOther names that peaked in 1988Girls' names starting with N