Rasha
Feminine · “Arabic rasha”
Rasha is given to both — 696 girls and 37 boys since 1880. See other names given to both
Classical Arabic poetry describes beauty through desert animals, and a whole set of women's names comes out of that vocabulary. Rasha is a young gazelle; Reem is a white antelope; Maha is the wild cow whose eyes are the standard of comparison.
How old is the name Rasha?
Rasha first appears in US birth records in 1961 — 64 years ago. The typical Rasha alive today was born around 1994, making them about 31 years old. About 700 people named Rasha are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Rasha most popular?
Rasha peaked in 1989, reaching #3893 nationally. Today it ranks #10107, 6,214 places below that high. See the whole 1989 chart.
Where it comes from
From rasha to Rasha
The story of Rasha
The pre-Islamic qasida established a repertoire of images that Arabic poetry used for well over a thousand years, and the gazelle sits at the center of it: the neck, the eyes, the wariness, the movement. From that repertoire came a family of names still in ordinary use, each of them a specific animal rather than a general idea of grace. Rasha is the young gazelle, Ghazal the gazelle itself, Reem the white antelope of the sands, Maha the wild oryx cow whose large dark eyes are the comparison every poet reaches for. English has almost nothing equivalent, since its beauty vocabulary is built from flowers and light rather than from animals, which is one reason these names resist translation into anything that sounds natural.
Meaning
Arabic rasha, a young gazelle
From Arabic rasha, a fawn or young gazelle. The word belongs to the classical poetic vocabulary of beauty, which draws heavily on desert animals, and it has been a common given name across the Arabic-speaking world in the modern period. The American peak is 1989.
How the name formed
- rasha
- Rasha
Related forms: Rasha · Rasa
Pronouncing Rasha
RAH-shah
Two syllables, stress on the first, with both vowels open. English speakers often say RASH-uh, which shortens the first vowel.
Nicknames for Rasha
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
- 1961
- Most girls named
- 198925 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3893reached in 1989
- Change vs 2023
- +28.6%9 in 2025, from 7
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.
Rasha in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Rasha in Arabic — same name
- Rasa in Turkish — related form
Rashas among us
people named Rasha are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 178,585 born in 2025 was named Rasha
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Stephaney test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Rasha's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Stephaney climbed just as high around 1972, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Stephaney's path sketches the road Rasha is walking now.
Rasha 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
Rasha beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Rasha in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Two syllables and five letters, short in either language.
- The meaning is a concrete word with a documented literary history.
- It is an ordinary current name across the Arabic-speaking world.
- The English pronunciation shortens the first vowel and produces the word rash.
- It is unfamiliar to most American readers.
- It will be confused with Rasheeda and Natasha.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Rasha
Feminine · #10107 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Rashas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Rasha are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Rasha in 2025?
- Rasha ranks #10107 among US girl names in 2025, with 9 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Rasha?
- About 1 in every 178,585 US girls born in 2025 was named Rasha — 9 in all.
- Will my child share the name Rasha with classmates?
- Rasha will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Rasha
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Berta#10107 · Jettie#10107 · Maye#10107 · Osa#10107 · Fidelia#10107 · Alysa#10107 · Su#10107 · Willie#10107
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Rasha? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Rasha and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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