# Moira (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/moira/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | girls |
| Origin | Irish |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | /ˈmɔɪɹə/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 7,941 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 0 / 7,941 (100% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 113, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

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

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 105 | 1,904 |
| 2012 | 115 | 1,789 |
| 2013 | 103 | 1,935 |
| 2014 | 126 | 1,681 |
| 2015 | 131 | 1,638 |
| 2016 | 118 | 1,770 |
| 2017 | 132 | 1,642 |
| 2018 | 133 | 1,613 |
| 2019 | 115 | 1,783 |
| 2020 | 110 | 1,802 |
| 2021 | 125 | 1,674 |
| 2022 | 94 | 2,065 |
| 2023 | 114 | 1,790 |
| 2024 | 105 | 1,908 |
| 2025 | 93 | 2,047 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 4 | 4,157 |
| 2009 | 5 | 3,936 |
| 2010 | 3 | 5,707 |
| 2011 | 4 | 4,764 |
| 2012 | 4 | 4,838 |
| 2013 | 3 | 5,742 |
| 2014 | 5 | 4,003 |
| 2018 | 8 | 2,901 |
| 2019 | 4 | 4,686 |
| 2020 | 4 | 4,535 |
| 2021 | 8 | 2,942 |
| 2022 | 5 | 3,970 |
| 2023 | 7 | 3,218 |
| 2024 | 5 | 4,192 |
| 2025 | 10 | 2,605 |

## People named Moira

- Moira Kelly, American actress (b. 1968)
- Moira Lister, actress (1923-2007)
- Moira Shearer, British ballerina and actress (1926–2006)
- Moira Walley-Beckett, Canadian-American television actress, producer and writer
- Moira Harris, American actress
- Moira Dela Torre, Filipina singer-songwriter (born 1993)
- Kate Beaton, Canadian comics artist
- Betty Boo, English singer, songwriter and pop rap artist (born 1970)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.