Head to head · Girls' names
Amirah vs Kora
#490 vs #490 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Amirah and Kora share the same spot on the 2025 charts (#490). The records cannot split them; sound and story 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, Amirah leads 3 measures of 6; Kora 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
- 1940s: Amirah —, Kora #4622 — Kora higher
- 1960s: Amirah —, Kora #6099 — Kora higher
- 1970s: Amirah #4979, Kora #7464 — Amirah higher
- 1980s: Amirah #3195, Kora #6149 — Amirah higher
- 1990s: Amirah #2006, Kora #3235 — Amirah higher
- 2000s: Amirah #1121, Kora #1799 — Amirah higher
- 2010s: Amirah #719, Kora #772 — Amirah higher
- 2020s: Amirah #524, Kora #495 — Kora higher
Amirah stood higher in 5 of 8 decades; Kora took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Amirah | Kora |
|---|---|---|
| 1940s | — | #4622 |
| 1960s | — | #6099 |
| 1970s | #4979 | #7464 |
| 1980s | #3195 | #6149 |
| 1990s | #2006 | #3235 |
| 2000s | #1121 | #1799 |
| 2010s | #719 | #772 |
| 2020s | #524 | #495 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Amirah
princess
Amirah is the feminine of Arabic amīr, "commander, prince," from the root ʾ-m-r, "to command." Worth knowing separately: Hebrew has its own name Amira, usually spelled without the h, connected to words for a sheaf of grain and the top of a tree. Same sound, different road.
amīr (Arabic, "commander, prince") → amīrah ("princess") → Amira → Amirah
How it traveled
The masculine amīr has been a title of rank and command since the earliest centuries of Islamic history — amīr al-muʾminīn, Commander of the Faithful, was borne by caliphs from the seventh century onward — and amīrah is its feminine, the ordinary Arabic word for a princess. As a given name it is used across the Arabic-speaking world and far beyond it, including widely in Malaysia and Indonesia.
Kora
maiden, girl
The root is Greek korē, "maiden" — also a title of Persephone in Greek religion. Kora is a modern spelling of Cora rather than a separate name; the meaning travels with it.
Korē → Cora → Kora
How it traveled
The line begins with the Greek korē, a plain word for a young woman that also served as a name for Persephone in cult and myth. Cora surfaced as an English given name in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and got a strong push from literature: James Fenimore Cooper named a heroine Cora Munro in The Last of the Mohicans, published in 1826, and the name spread widely through the English-speaking world afterwards.
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
Amirah
ah-MEE-rah
The final h is silent — it marks the Arabic feminine ending rather than a sound. In American English you will also hear uh-MEER-uh, with the last syllable softened; both are in ordinary use, so it is worth deciding early which one your family says.
- Mira — The most common short form in English, and a long-established given name in its own right.
- Amy — Informal, drawn from the first syllable; also stands alone as a given name familiar to every generation in the US.
- Mimi — Family nickname, usually from the middle syllable rather than the spelling.
- Ami — Informal shortening used within families; spelled Amy, Ami or Amie depending on household preference.
Kora
KOR-uh
Stress on the first syllable, rhyming with Nora and Dora. Some speakers say KOH-ruh with a rounder first vowel; both are accepted and neither causes confusion.
- Kori — The most common short form; also used on its own as a given name, usually spelled Cori or Corey.
- Ko — A one-syllable family nickname rather than anything used outside the house.
- Kiki — Informal, playful, drawn from the initial sound rather than the spelling.
- Korie — A longer written variant of Kori, used mostly in writing and signatures.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Amirah if you want…
- a name on the way upup 55 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itAmirah runs 3 syllables, Kora 2
Choose Kora if you want…
- a name holding steadyKora is holding its place on the charts
- a name with fewer syllablesKora is 2 syllables to Amirah's 3
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
Amirah
Strengths
- The meaning is transparent to Arabic speakers worldwide — no explaining needed across a very large part of the globe.
- Ready-made short forms that already exist as names on their own: Mira, Amy.
- Used across Arabic, Malay, Indonesian, Bosnian and Swahili-speaking communities, so it travels without being reshaped.
To consider
- Amirah and Amira compete as spellings, and neither is rare. Expect to spell it out, and expect the h to be dropped by people writing it down quickly.
- It sits in a crowded sound-neighborhood with Amira, Amina, Amara, Amaya and Samira. Mix-ups are more likely than mispronunciations.
- The name is centuries old, but its American wave is recent — most people carrying this spelling here are still young, so US namesakes of an older generation are few. Elsewhere it has a much longer local history.
Kora
Strengths
- Reads correctly on sight for English speakers — four letters, two syllables, no silent letters or ambiguous vowels.
- Sits in a long-established sound-family with Cora, Nora, Dora and Flora, so it is familiar to the ear even when the spelling is new to someone.
- The Greek root korē is documented and easy to explain in a sentence, which is more than many short names can offer.
To consider
- Cora is the older and better-known spelling, so expect "is that with a C or a K?" at doctors' offices, coffee counters and school forms for life. Worth deciding early which spelling you will correct and which you will let slide.
- Its growth in the US is recent, so most Koras are children rather than adults. That means a child is unlikely to share the name with a classmate, but also that the name has no long American track record to lean on.
- The word kora also names a West African 21-string harp-lute and, in Tibetan Buddhism, the practice of walking a circuit around a sacred site. Neither is a problem — just two other things the word means in the world.
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 Amirah and Kora 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 Amirah and Kora?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Amirah or Kora — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Amirah or Kora?
- They tie in 2025: Amirah ranked #490 with 603 babies; Kora ranked #490 with 603 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Amirah or Kora?
- Amirah. Over the last five years Amirah moved up 55 places; Kora moved down 2 places.
- Which is the older name, Amirah or Kora?
- Amirah entered the US charts in 1976; Kora entered the US charts in 1942. On the American record, Kora is the older name.
- How many people are named Amirah and Kora?
- About 11,000 people named Amirah are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 9,500 people named Kora are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Amirahs or Koras in the classroom?
- Amirah will almost certainly be the only one in school. Kora will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
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