Nuri

Did you know?

A few things about Nuri you might not know, from US birth records and Wikipedia. Handy for convincing a partner, or a grandparent.

⭐ Famous Nuri

Nuri Şahin

Turkish-German association football player (born 1988)

Choose Nuri and your child shares a first name with Nuri Şahin, a Turkish-German association football player. A ready-made answer when someone asks “Nuri, like who?” Nuri Şahin's Wikipedia article is available in 57 languages, a good sign of just how widely known they are.

Read about Nuri Şahin on Wikipedia ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Photo: Antalyaspor A.Ş., CC BY 2.0 (opens in a new tab), via Wikimedia Commons

• 👶How commonAbout 1 in every 18,904 baby girls born in the US in 2025 was named Nuri, 85 babies in all. In a typical school of 500 kids, your Nuri would very likely be the only one.
• 📜HistoryNuri first shows up in US birth records in 1975, the first year at least 5 babies got it. It has been in use for 50 years since.
• 🏆Best yearIts best year was 2019, when it reached #1,119.
• 🍂TrendNuri has slipped 640 places over the last five years and now sits at #2,173. Good news if you want a familiar name that fewer kids will share.
• 📍Where it's lovedNuri is most popular in Pennsylvania, where it ranks #725, followed by Maryland (#731). It's in the top 1,000 in 2 states.
• ⚖️Boy or girlNuri is given to both boys and girls: 80% of the 106 babies named Nuri in 2025 were girls. That makes it one of the names that truly works for either.
• 💬MeaningIn Arabic, Nuri means “light”. Our records link it to Arabic and Hebrew roots.

About the name Nuri

Nuri is a gender-neutral name of Arabic and Hebrew origin meaning “light”. It has 4 letters and 2 syllables, starting with N and ending in “-uri”. US birth records list Nuri for girls from 1989 to 2025, in 33 of those 37 years. Its best year was 2019, when it ranked #1,119 among girl names. In 2025 it ranked #2,173, with 85 babies. Of the 106 US babies named Nuri in 2025, 80% were girls and 20% were boys.

Origin:Arabic namesHebrew names