Arayah
Feminine
Arayah joins an Ara- front to the -yah ending, and the sound sits between Aria, Araya and the Hebrew names that end in the divine name.
How old is the name Arayah?
Arayah first appears in US birth records in 1997 — 28 years ago. The typical Arayah is a kid of about 8 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,600 people named Arayah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Arayah most popular?
Arayah peaked in 2023, reaching #1878 nationally. Today it ranks #1990, 112 places below that high. See the whole 2023 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Arayah
Our story of Arayah is a story of a suffix that lost its grammar. The -iah and -yah of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Josiah is the divine name, and every biblical name ending in it makes a statement about God. American naming detached the sound in the 1990s and attached it to fronts that make no such claim — Zariah, Amariah, Arayah. The ending has a real and specific origin; this compound does not descend from it, and both facts are worth saying.
Meaningscholars disagree
Not established
No settled etymology. The -yah ending descends from the Hebrew divine name that closes Isaiah and Josiah, but functions here as a sound. The Ara- front may reflect Aria or the Hebrew ari, 'lion'. Neither is documented for this compound.
Pronouncing Arayah
uh-RY-uh
Three syllables, stress in the middle. Arayah and Araya are said identically.
Nicknames for Arayah
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
- 1997
- Most girls named
- 2015106 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1878reached in 2023
- Change vs 2024
- −5.0%96 in 2025, from 101
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.
Arayah in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Araya in English — spelling variant
- Ariyah in English — spelling variant
- Zariah in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Ohio, California, Florida.
Arayahs among us
people named Arayah are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 16,742 born in 2025 was named Arayah
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Arayah
- #1990
- Arayah on the 2025 chart
- #600
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Arayah went to 96 girls in 2025, but Araya, Araiyah and Araiya and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 7 spellings went to 389, which makes it the 600th most-given girls’ name of the year — 1,390 places above the chart.
- Araya235
- Arayah96
- Araiyah18
- Araiya17
- Araiah9
- Araia7
- Arraya7
About 1 girl in 4,132 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 16,742 for Arayah 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 Tanaya test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Arayah's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Tanaya climbed just as high around 2005, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Tanaya's path sketches the road Arayah is walking now.
Arayah 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
Where Arayah is headed
Arayah should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Arayah beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Arayah in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Ara and Aya are two short forms, both real names elsewhere.
- Three syllables of open vowels, which carries unusually well.
- It belongs to a large and well-documented American naming family.
- There is no documented meaning for this spelling.
- Aria, Ariah and Araya are all close enough to cause confusion.
- It will need spelling out every time.
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Arayah
Feminine · #1990 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Arayahs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,600 people named Arayah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Arayah?
- Arayah is one of 7 recorded spellings. Araya is the more common one — 235 births in 2025 against 96 for Arayah.
- How popular is the name Arayah in 2025?
- Arayah ranks #1990 among US girl names in 2025, with 96 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Arayah?
- About 1 in every 16,742 US girls born in 2025 was named Arayah — 96 in all.
- Will my child share the name Arayah with classmates?
- Arayah will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Arayah
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Emrie#1990 · Caliyah#1990 · Cambria#1990 · Venus#1990 · Kristen#1990 · Gema#1990 · Fiadh#1990 · Maylani#1990
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Arayah? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Arayah and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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