Amira

About Amira

Amira has two independent origins. In Arabic it is the feminine form of Amir and means “princess.” In Hebrew it is a feminine form of a different Amir, meaning “treetop.” The spelling brings together a royal title and a nature image, with a flowing three-syllable sound in both languages.

Arabic and Hebrew roots

Arabic Amir means “commander” or “prince,” and Amira is its feminine counterpart. The name is also used beyond Arabic-speaking communities, including in Bosnian and Malay. Ameera and Amirah are alternative English-letter spellings, while Emira is a related form.

Hebrew Amir refers to the top of a tree. Hebrew Amira belongs to that separate name family, with the same Latin-letter spelling as the Arabic name. The two meanings arise from different words.

This double history is one of Amira’s most distinctive features. Its royal meaning is especially familiar in Arabic naming, while its Hebrew branch places it among names drawn from trees and other features of the natural world.

Amira Hass and journalism

Israeli journalist Amira Hass joined the newspaper Haaretz in 1989, initially working as a copy editor before becoming a reporter. She moved to Gaza in 1993 and to Ramallah in 1997.

Her reporting has focused on Palestinian life under occupation, including restrictions on movement and their effects on daily experience. Her books include Drinking the Sea at Gaza and Reporting from Ramallah, the latter collecting articles from 1997 to 2002.

Hass received the International Hrant Dink Award in 2009. Her career gives Amira a substantial association with reporting, sustained observation, and the written record of contemporary history.

Amira Casar and international cinema

Actor Amira Casar appears in Call Me by Your Name, directed by Luca Guadagnino and adapted from André Aciman’s novel. She plays Annella, the mother of the young musician Elio, in a story set during a summer in northern Italy.

Casar’s screen work crosses several languages, including French and English. Her films also include Saint Laurent and Sylvia, the latter about the poet Sylvia Plath. This multilingual career is another setting in which the spelling Amira has become familiar to audiences.

The journalist and the actor offer quite different cultural connections: one through nonfiction and newspaper reporting, the other through fictional characters and film performance.

Pronunciation and related forms

Arabic Amira is approximately ah-MEE-rah, with a long middle vowel. Hebrew generally stresses the final syllable, ah-mee-RAH. English speakers commonly use the middle-stressed pronunciation.

The spelling Ameera makes the long ee sound more explicit for English readers. Amirah adds a final h in transliteration, while Amir is the masculine relative in each of the two independent language traditions.

American popularity

Amira has grown considerably in American use. There were 268 girls given the name in 2000 and 604 in 2010.

The count reached 2,182 in 2024. In 2025, 2,168 girls were named Amira, placing it at number 132. Its best rank was number 131 in 2023, showing that its recent prominence has lasted across several years.

How popular is Amira?

In 2025, Amira ranked #132 among girls in the United States, with 2,168 recorded uses. The U.S. birth records first list this spelling for girls in 1963; its largest annual count was 2,182 in 2024. Rankings count each spelling separately. They describe national use, so local familiarity can differ. The popularity chart shows whether the name has remained common, returned after a quieter period, or risen recently.