 12% of the population was under 6 years of age.In earlier times, the town used to be called Mutthukulathur, meaning "the town with pearls in its lakes" in Tamil with obvious reference to the three ponds "oorani".However the name of the town changed over the years to Mudhukulathur meaning "town of oldest ponds" in an ironical reference to the absence of the pearls and the ponds drying up.