Ruqayyah
Feminine · “rise”
Ruqayyah was a daughter of the Prophet, and her name comes from a word about rising — the same root that gives progress and ascent.
How old is the name Ruqayyah?
Ruqayyah first appears in US birth records in 1977 — 48 years ago. The typical Ruqayyah is a kid of about 11 — this name's wave is very recent. About 500 people named Ruqayyah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Ruqayyah most popular?
Ruqayyah peaked in 2025, reaching #4265 nationally. Today it ranks #4265, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Ruqayyah
Ruqayyah was one of the Prophet's daughters, married to Uthman, who became the third caliph; she died at Medina during the Battle of Badr. The name has been used across the Muslim world since, and it is particularly common in South Asia and West Africa. The doubled y and q are transliteration conventions marking sounds English does not have.
Meaning
rise, ascent; charm
From an Arabic root meaning to rise or ascend; ruqayyah is a diminutive and the same root gives taraqqi, progress. A separate sense of the root concerns incantation, and both readings circulate.
Pronouncing Ruqayyah
roo-KY-yah
Three syllables with the stress in the middle; the q is a k made far back in the throat.
Nicknames for Ruqayyah
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
- 1977
- Most girls named
- 202533 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #4265reached in 2025
- Change vs 2024
- +32.0%33 in 2025, from 25
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.
Ruqayyah in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Ruqayya in Arabic — spelling variant
- Ruqayyah in Urdu — same name
- Rukiye in Turkish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, Illinois.
Ruqayyahs among us
people named Ruqayyah are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 48,705 born in 2025 was named Ruqayyah
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Ruqayyah
- #4265
- Ruqayyah on the 2025 chart
- #873
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Ruqayyah went to 33 girls in 2025, but Ruqayya, Ruqaya and Ruqaiya and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 6 spellings went to 87, which makes it the 873rd most-given girls’ name of the year — 3,392 places above the chart.
- Ruqayyah33
- Ruqayya25
- Ruqaya12
- Ruqaiya7
- Ruqaiyah5
- Ruqayah5
About 1 girl in 18,474 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 48,705 for Ruqayyah 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 Talise test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Ruqayyah's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Talise climbed just as high around 2006, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Talise's path sketches the road Ruqayyah is walking now.
Ruqayyah 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 Ruqayyah is headed
Ruqayyah 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.
Ruqayyah beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Ruqayyah in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A figure of high standing in Islamic memory behind it.
- Recognized across the Arab world, South Asia and West Africa.
- A settled meaning with a genuinely positive sense — rising.
- Eight letters with a q and a doubled y is a great deal for American forms.
- English readers see qu and say kw, which is wrong.
- Ruqayyah, Ruqayya and Rukayya are all in use and none is dominant in English.
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What they receive
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Ruqayyah
Feminine · #4265 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Ruqayyahs 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 Ruqayyah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Ruqayyah?
- Ruqayyah is the most-used spelling in US records — 33 of the 87 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Ruqayya, Ruqaya, Ruqaiya, Ruqaiyah and Ruqayah.
- How popular is the name Ruqayyah in 2025?
- Ruqayyah ranks #4265 among US girl names in 2025, with 33 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Ruqayyah?
- About 1 in every 48,705 US girls born in 2025 was named Ruqayyah — 33 in all.
- Will my child share the name Ruqayyah with classmates?
- Ruqayyah will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Ruqayyah
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Hyacinth#4265 · Halina#4265 · Michal#4265 · Sadia#4265 · Zahava#4265 · Maiah#4265 · Daysi#4265 · Corrie#4265
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Ruqayyah? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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