girl's name
Nour
NOOR
- Origin Arabic
- Gender Girl
- Letters 4
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 29,856
France
#16
2025 births
Nour is a girl's name of Arabic origin meaning "light," from nur. It ranks sixteenth in France and is used across the Arabic-speaking world for both sexes, making it one of the most widely shared names between France and North Africa.
- Nour is a name of Arabic origin.
- Peaked in France in 2025, when 1,975 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade in France.
- Today about 1 in 324 babies in France is given this name.
- Nour started out as a boys' name and is now given almost entirely to girls.
- First appears in birth records in 1955.
Nour over time
Births per decade in France, 1950s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1950s | 25 |
| 1960s | 40 |
| 1970s | 80 |
| 1980s | 290 |
| 1990s | 685 |
| 2000s | 3,350 |
| 2010s | 8,965 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 9,755 |
What Nour means
Nour means light, or radiance. The Arabic nur is the ordinary word for light, and it carries a strong religious resonance: An-Nur, The Light, is both a chapter of the Quran and one of the names of God.
Where Nour comes from
Nour transliterates the Arabic nur, light. The word is central to Islamic devotional language, appearing in the Verse of Light in Surah An-Nur, and it forms a large family of names including Nur al-Din, light of the faith, and the compound Anwar. It is used for men and women across the Arab world, with the balance differing by country. Its presence in the French top twenty reflects France's deep demographic ties to Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, and the name sits alongside Lina, Sofia and Adam as one of the names that the two naming cultures genuinely share rather than merely borrow.
Nour in use
Nour ranks sixteenth in France with about 1,975 births in 2025. It also has real presence in Britain, at 665 in England and Wales, and appears in Scotland and Ireland, so unlike most of the French top twenty it has traveled with its communities rather than staying put. Our records show it in France from 1981 onward, and its peak in the United States is the most recent year we hold.
How popular is Nour?
In 2025, Nour was given to 1,820 babies in France, ranking #16 that year. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Nour is used
French counts are rounded to the nearest five and nothing below five is published, so these figures show the shape of the name's use rather than an exact tally. Data & sources.
How Nour is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Noûr | Noûr is Nour written with a circumflex, used in France, where it ranks #361. | 820 |
| Noür | Noür is a rare spelling of Nour, written with a diaeresis and recorded about 40 times, mostly in France. | 40 |
Names that peaked alongside Nour
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Nour also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Nour over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Nour in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Nour
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Nour — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Nour
What does the name Nour mean?
Nour means "light," from the Arabic nur.
Is Nour a boy's or a girl's name?
Both, across the Arabic-speaking world. In our French and British data it is used mainly for girls.
Is Nour a religious name?
It carries a strong religious resonance. An-Nur, The Light, is a chapter of the Quran and one of the names of God.
How popular is Nour in France?
Sixteenth, with about 1,975 births in 2025.
Is Nour a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Nour currently ranks #16 in France. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.