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Zahra

#540 in 2025Girls' name

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Zahra has been given to 9,395 babies in the U.S. since 1973. In 2025 it ranked #540 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2025, with 562 recorded.

Babies named Zahra, 2025

1 in 5,900

Zahra over time, 1880–2025

Girls
020040060018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Zahra: meaning, origin, and history

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Arabic

What Zahra means

Zahra has more than one naming route in the cited origin entries: distinct naming traditions.

The naming story behind Zahra

One of the source’s documented entries for Zahra records a meaning of shining, brilliant, bright.

One of the source’s documented entries for Zahra records a meaning of blooming flower, splendour.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

Borrowed from Arabic زَهْراء (zahrāʔ), an epithet of Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad. As a surname, it is predominantly found in Egypt.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Zahra (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Zahra is used in English. Its origins include Arabic.

Zahra comes through Arabic زَهْراء.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 9,395 girls were recorded with the name Zahra between 1973 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 562 in 2025; its best national rank was #540 in 2025.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #592 in 2020 to #540 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #691 in 2015 to #540 in 2025.

How common is Zahra?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 5,900
562 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 2,860
0.03% of girls
Rank, 2025
#540
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
4,090 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Zahra sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 1002%
School of 5008%

Put another way: gather 4,090 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Zahra. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Zahras were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Zahra was born before 2016 — so the typical Zahra is around 9 today.

Median birth year
2016
About 9 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
38.8% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
86.6%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
9,395
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 38.8% of all recorded uses (3,645).

Is Zahra rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+3
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+52
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+151
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.37×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
100.0%
Peak was 2025 (562)
Years since peak
Peaking now
At its all-time high
Year-to-year steadiness
Steady
11.2% average annual change
Best rank ever
#540
2025

Spellings of Zahra

Zahra is not the most common spelling — Laura is, with 42.2% against Zahra's 0.49%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Zahra is used

Across 2016–2025, Zahra was most concentrated in Maryland — about 1 in 1,163 girls, against 1 in 2,792 across all states with data. It was least common in Alabama (1 in 33,333).

386 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Maryland1 in 1,163
  2. 2Connecticut1 in 1,449
  3. 3Virginia1 in 1,538
  4. 4New Jersey1 in 1,563
  5. 5New York1 in 1,563
  6. 6Massachusetts1 in 1,818
  7. 7Illinois1 in 2,000
  8. 8Michigan1 in 2,041

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Geographically, Zahra is somewhat regional — more concentrated than 73% of the names used widely enough to compare. See the most regional names

Zahra around the world

Where Zahra ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2025
    #116
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    1981–2025
    #183
    in 2025
  • Northern Ireland
    2003–2024
    #337
    in 2024
  • Ireland
    1993–2025
    #226
    in 2025
  • France
    1946–2025
    #338
    in 2025
  • Norway
    1880–2025
    #315
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1991–2024
    #173
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1994–2013
    #328
    in 2013
  • New South Wales
    2017–2023
    #97
    in 2023

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, Central Statistics Office, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Norway, Statistics Canada, Consumer and Business Services (South Australia) and NSW Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages. ONS, NRS, NISRA data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, SSB, CBS SA, NSW BDM data under CC BY 4.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Notable people named Zahra

People whose public names include Zahra, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Zahra in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Zahra. Linked forms have their own page here.

Sahra

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Zahra by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#540
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 52
Best rank ever
#540
2025
Peak year
2025
562 that year
First recorded
1973
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
9,395
Count in 2025
562

Names similar to Zahra

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

ZaharaZahiraZahraaZahriaZahavaSahraZehraZahrahZahariBushraZohraZahirahZahaZahiaNethraMithraZahliaZaharahZahroMahraZahariaZuhraZahriyaTahra

Names with a curve like Zahra

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Zahra, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

KoraHadassahIvannaRemyCharliAyaCarterAmirahSloanAndiHollandMilena

Sibling names for Zahra

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Zahra

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