Given name & surname
Nuri
“surrounded by light”
Nuri is used as a given name and a surname. One Arabic interpretation is “surrounded by light.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Arabic interpretation is “surrounded by light.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Arabic.
How it developed
From Arabic نُورِيّ; its root is Arabic ن و ر.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1975. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Nuri through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 1,674
- 510 boys · 1,164 girls
- Most popular year
- 2019
- 239 babies
- 2025
- 106
- #2,189 for girls · #4,819 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −3%
- Steady
Boys, girls and both
The balance of boys and girls given this name has shifted over time. Recent births are 22% boys.
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 85 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 2,189 among girls’ names. Average annual use for girls was 5.7% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for girls was 217 in 2019. It also appeared in 21 birth records for boys in 2025. In 2025, Pennsylvania had the largest reported state-level birth count for girls with this name (13). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 1,396 as a first name in 2020; 298 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Nuri’s family of names
Nuri has a related form in Nury. Nuri has a related form in Nuris. Nuri has a related form in Nuriya.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 9
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Nuriyavariant
- Nuriyahvariant
- Nuryvariant
- Nurrilikely variant
- Nurisvariant
- Nureavariant
- Nureevariant
- Nureyvariant
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Spellings & scripts 2
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Nuri
- Nouri al-Malikiprime minister of Iraq from 2006 to 2014born 1950
- Nuri ŞahinTurkish-German association football player (born 1988)
- Nuri Bilge CeylanTurkish film director and producer (born 1959)
- Nuri al-SaidIraqi politician (1888–1958)
- Nuri KilligilTurkish general and statesperson (1889–1949)
- Nouri AbusahmainLibyan politicianborn 2000
- Nuri YamutTurkish military officer (1890–1961)
- Nur MasalhaPalestinian historian and writerborn 1957
- Nuri DersimiTurkish statesperson of Kurdish ancestry (1893–1973)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Nuri, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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