Akirah
Feminine · “bright”
One Japanese character can be read a dozen ways. The character for bright is read Akira, Mei, Aki, Haru, Toru and more, depending on the name, the word and the era — which is why a Japanese person meeting a written name often has to ask how it is said.
How old is the name Akirah?
Akirah first appears in US birth records in 1993 — 32 years ago. The typical Akirah alive today was born around 2009, making them about 16 years old. About 500 people named Akirah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Akirah most popular?
Akirah peaked in 2009, reaching #4370 nationally. Today it ranks #11932, 7,562 places below that high. See the whole 2009 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Akira to Akirah
The story of Akirah
Japanese writing gives a character a Chinese-derived reading and one or more native ones, and personal names may use either, plus readings that exist only in names. The result is a system where the writing carries the meaning and the sound carries almost none, and where business cards print the pronunciation above the characters because otherwise nobody would know. Akira reached American awareness largely through a single animated film released in 1988, which was for a great many Americans the first Japanese animation they had seen; the name appears in American records shortly after and, unlike in Japan, is given mostly to girls.
Meaningscholars disagree
bright, clear
Akira is a Japanese name, most often written with a character meaning bright or clear, and given to boys. Which meaning a particular Akira carries depends on the character chosen, and several are used. The final h in this spelling is an American addition and has no Japanese counterpart.
How the name formed
- Akira
- Akirah
Related forms: Akira
Pronouncing Akirah
ah-KEER-ah
Three syllables, said flat and even in Japanese rather than with English stress. Americans put the weight in the middle. The final h is silent and adds nothing to either version.
Nicknames for Akirah
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1993
- Most girls named
- 200934 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #4370reached in 2009
- Change vs 2024
- −53.3%7 in 2025, from 15
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Akirah in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Akira in Japanese — transliteration
Akirahs among us
people named Akirah are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 229,610 born in 2025 was named Akirah
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Akirah
- #11932
- Akirah on the 2025 chart
- #693
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Akirah went to 7 girls in 2025, but Akira and Akyra are the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 273, which makes it the 693rd most-given girls’ name of the year — 11,239 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 5,887 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 229,610 for Akirah itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Aparna test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Akirah's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Aparna climbed just as high around 1975, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Aparna's path sketches the road Akirah is walking now.
Akirah sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Akirah beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Akirah in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The name behind it is real and current in Japan rather than an approximation.
- Kira and Aki both work as short forms and both are names elsewhere.
- Three open syllables with pure vowels, which makes it easy in Spanish and Italian too.
- In Japan this is a man's name, and Japanese speakers will read it that way.
- Akira without the h is the standard spelling everywhere else.
- The meaning depends on characters an American record cannot hold.
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What they receive
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Akirah
Feminine · #11932 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Akirahs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Akirah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Akirah?
- Akirah is one of 3 recorded spellings. Akira is the more common one — 257 births in 2025 against 7 for Akirah.
- How popular is the name Akirah in 2025?
- Akirah ranks #11932 among US girl names in 2025, with 7 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Akirah?
- About 1 in every 229,610 US girls born in 2025 was named Akirah — 7 in all.
- Will my child share the name Akirah with classmates?
- Akirah will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Akirah
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Vina#11932 · Retta#11932 · Missouri#11932 · Iola#11932 · Eddie#11932 · Thomas#11932 · Louetta#11932 · Elvina#11932
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Akirah? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Akirah and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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