Fun Facts About the Name Morocco
- 165 babies named Morocco: U.S. records list 165 babies given the name Morocco from 1880 through 2025. Even 6 girls received the name Morocco - about 1 girl for every 27 boys.
What Does the Name Morocco Mean?
Morocco is a geographic name used as a personal name, and its established sense is locative: it identifies the country in northwestern Africa. The English word comes by way of Spanish Marruecos and Portuguese Marrocos, which are renderings of Marrakesh (also spelled Marrakech), the city that European sailors and traders reached before they knew the wider realm. Literally, then, the name means something like "the country of Marrakesh" - the land took its name from the city, not the city from the land.
The meaning of Marrakesh itself is not settled. A frequently repeated Amazigh (Berber) explanation reads it as amur akush, "land of God," but that derivation has never been firmly established, and other accounts link the second element to a name or group called Kush. Because the original form predates written records in the region, the literal translation remains disputed. For that reason Morocco is best described as a place name of uncertain Amazigh origin rather than a name with a fixed translated meaning.
Morocco Name History & Origins
Arabic and Islamic geography knew the region as al-Maghrib, "the west" or "the place of sunset," and that remains the country's name in Arabic today. The form used in English and most European languages followed a different path, coming through the Iberian names for Marrakesh. Marrakesh was founded in the eleventh century and became the capital of the Almoravid dynasty, then of the Almohads, which made it the city Europeans associated with the whole territory. Spanish Marruecos and Portuguese Marrocos carried the city's name onto the country, and English adopted the word as "Morocco." So the English name preserves an outside, city-based perspective, while al-Maghrib preserves an internal, directional one.
As a given name, Morocco is a rare place-name adoption in English-speaking countries. It belongs to the broad practice of using geographic words as personal names, and it appears occasionally, chiefly for girls. The word also has a separate cultural life as a title, most notably the 1930 film Morocco; that is a use of the word in entertainment rather than evidence about how the personal name developed.
How Popular is the Name Morocco?
Morocco has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 2017. Its best rank was #5,049 in 2017.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #14,378 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #7,521 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2024 | #6,345 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 2023 | #6,407 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 2022 | #5,789 | 16 | 0.0009% |
| 2021 | #6,229 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 2020 | #5,885 | 15 | 0.0009% |
| 2019 | #8,021 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 2018 | #11,697 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2017 | #5,049 | 19 | 0.0010% |
| 2016 | #7,963 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 2014 | #11,681 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2013 | #7,917 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 2012 | #8,646 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2005 | #12,732 | 5 | 0.0003% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Morocco Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You have psychic power. You can carry on for others with joy. You have a receptive nature and may bear burdens for others. You are pragmatic, thorough, strong-willed, practical and stubborn at times. You are hard working, often martyr to duty. You like home and security above all. You are frank, methodical and believe in law, system and order.
You are always looking for a chance to do your own thing, to be your own person, and to have things done your own way.
✦ Morocco's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Morocco's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.