Head to head · Girls' names
Adhara vs Raya
#370 vs #369 in 2025 · both climbing the charts fast
Raya is a whisker ahead (#369 vs #370 in 2025) and both are climbing the charts fast. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Raya leads 5 measures of 6; Adhara leads 1.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1950s: Adhara —, Raya #6103 — Raya higher
- 1960s: Adhara —, Raya #6761 — Raya higher
- 1970s: Adhara —, Raya #6398 — Raya higher
- 1980s: Adhara —, Raya #5830 — Raya higher
- 1990s: Adhara —, Raya #3147 — Raya higher
- 2000s: Adhara —, Raya #1958 — Raya higher
- 2010s: Adhara #10063, Raya #1188 — Raya higher
- 2020s: Adhara #1977, Raya #486 — Raya higher
Raya stood higher in every recorded decade — 8 of 8.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Adhara | Raya |
|---|---|---|
| 1950s | — | #6103 |
| 1960s | — | #6761 |
| 1970s | — | #6398 |
| 1980s | — | #5830 |
| 1990s | — | #3147 |
| 2000s | — | #1958 |
| 2010s | #10063 | #1188 |
| 2020s | #1977 | #486 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Adhara
Not charting outside the US.
Raya
- England & Wales#82
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Adhara
the maidens, from Arabic al-ʿadhārā
ʿadhārā is the plural of ʿadhrāʾ, maiden or virgin. The plural referred to a group of stars in that part of the sky, and the name later attached to just the brightest of them.
al-ʿadhārā (Arabic asterism name) → Adhara (Latinized star name in medieval European astronomy) → Adhara (given name)
How it traveled
The name belongs first to a star: Epsilon Canis Majoris, blazing at the hind leg of the Great Dog. Arab astronomers of the medieval period named a cluster of stars there al-ʿadhārā, the maidens, and when Arabic astronomical works were translated into Latin in the Middle Ages, dozens of such names crossed into European use in half-Latinized form — Adhara among them.
Raya
"Friend, companion" in Hebrew — though the name also reaches English by two other roads
Three genuine sources meet at this spelling. In Hebrew, ra'ya (רעיה) means friend or companion, the feminine of re'a, and appears in the Song of Songs as a term of endearment. In Russian and Bulgarian, Raya (Рая) is a long-established affectionate short form of Raisa. In Arabic, Rayya carries the sense of thirst quenched, water enough. None of these cancels the others — a Raya may be named from any of them.
Rhaïs → Raisa → Raya
How it traveled
The Hebrew ra'ya is the oldest thread: a word for companion or beloved, used in the Song of Songs and revived as a given name in modern Hebrew. Separately, Slavic families have used Raya for generations as the everyday form of Raisa, itself from the Greek Rhaïs, borne by an Egyptian saint of the fourth century.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Adhara
ah-DAH-rah
Spanish speakers say it with three even, open vowels and a plain d — the h is silent. In English you will also hear uh-DAR-uh, and some readers try ad-HAR-uh on first sight. Saying it once usually settles it.
- Ada — Informal short form; also a long-established given name in its own right across English, German and Spanish.
- Dara — Takes the stressed middle syllable; stands alone as a given name in Irish and Hebrew traditions.
- Addie — Informal, English-language; shared with Adelaide, Adeline and Addison, so it says less about the full name.
- Ari — Informal, drawn loosely from the sound rather than the spelling; used in both Spanish- and English-speaking families.
Raya
RYE-uh
RYE-uh is the dominant American pronunciation and the one used for the Disney character. RAY-uh is also in real use, and Hebrew speakers stress the second syllable: ra-YAH. Expect to state your version more than once.
- Rae — The usual informal clip in English; also stands on its own as a given name.
- Ray — Same sound, the spelling more often seen on men; used informally within families.
- Rayrah — A reduplicated household nickname of the kind small children get; not used outside the family.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Adhara if you want…
- a name on the way upup 5,322 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itAdhara runs 3 syllables, Raya 2
Choose Raya if you want…
- a name with fewer syllablesRaya is 2 syllables to Adhara's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooRaya is on the national lists of England & Wales
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Adhara
Strengths
- Anchored to a real, named star with a documented Arabic origin — an answer to "where does it come from" that holds up.
- Works in both Spanish and English without changing spelling, which matters in the states where it is most used.
- Short forms already exist and are familiar: Ada and Dara are both established names on their own.
To consider
- The dh will cost some spelling. Adara is the form many people default to, and the h gets dropped in writing more often than it gets added.
- Two pronunciations circulate — the Spanish ah-DAH-rah and an anglicized uh-DAR-uh. Neither is wrong, but a child may spend a lifetime choosing which one to correct.
- It is climbing quickly. A child born now may be the only Adhara in the building, and still meet several by the time she finishes school.
Raya
Strengths
- Two syllables, five letters, no silent letters or doubled consonants — writable by the child themselves early on.
- Genuinely at home in Hebrew, Russian, Bulgarian and Arabic, so it travels between families and languages without translation.
- Also charts in England & Wales, which means it reads as a name rather than a novelty to English speakers abroad.
To consider
- Two pronunciations compete — RYE-uh and RAY-uh — and neither is wrong. Choosing one and using it consistently saves a lifetime of small corrections.
- For this generation the name is closely tied to the Disney heroine. That association will be the first thing many people mention, and it will fade slowly rather than quickly.
- It sits in a crowded sound-neighborhood with Maya, Kaia, Aaliyah and Alaya, so mishearings are more likely than misspellings.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Adhara and Raya in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Adhara and Raya?
Put both to the vote.
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Names that didn't exist a generation ago
- Names predicted to enter the top 100 by 2030
- Names with only one spelling
- Names ending in -ra
- all guides
Where Adhara and Raya each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Adhara or Raya — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Adhara or Raya?
- Raya, in 2025: Raya ranked #369 with 831 babies; Adhara ranked #370 with 829 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Adhara or Raya?
- Adhara. Over the last five years Adhara moved up 5,322 places; Raya moved up 563 places.
- Which is the older name, Adhara or Raya?
- Adhara entered the US charts in 2013; Raya entered the US charts in 1958. On the American record, Raya is the older name.
- How many people are named Adhara and Raya?
- About 2,100 people named Adhara are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 7,900 people named Raya are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Adharas or Rayas in the classroom?
- Adhara will almost certainly be the only one in school. Raya will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
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