Sahra
Feminine · “Hebrew "princess”
Sahra moves the h of Sarah to the middle, and the move is not arbitrary. In Arabic and in several transliteration systems the h marks a consonant that stands between the vowels, not after them; Turkish, German and Somali all write the name this way, and each has its own reason.
How old is the name Sahra?
Sahra first appears in US birth records in 1974 — 51 years ago. The typical Sahra alive today was born around 2004, making them about 21 years old. About 900 people named Sahra are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Sahra most popular?
Sahra peaked in 1986, reaching #3645 nationally. Today it ranks #7133, 3,488 places below that high. See the whole 1986 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From שָׂרָה (Sarah) to Sahra
The story of Sahra
Sarah is one of the very few names shared without dispute by Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and each tradition transliterates it differently. Turkish writes Sahra; German uses Sahra alongside Sara; Somali and other Horn of Africa communities use Sahra widely. In America the spelling therefore signals a community rather than a fashion, and its 1986 peak reflects immigration from several of those regions at once rather than any single source.
Meaning
Hebrew "princess, noblewoman"
From Hebrew sarah, a princess or a woman of rank, from a root meaning to rule. Genesis records the name being changed from Sarai to Sarah as part of the covenant. The etymology is settled. Arabic Sāra is the same name; Arabic ṣaḥrāʾ, meaning desert and giving the Sahara, is a different word entirely and is not the source despite the resemblance.
How the name formed
- שָׂרָהSarah
- Sara
- Sahra
Related forms: שָׂרָה · سارة (Sara) · Sahra · Sahra · Sarah
Pronouncing Sahra
SAH-rah
Two syllables, stress on the first. The h is audible in Turkish and Somali, giving SAH-hrah; in English it is generally silent and the name is said exactly like Sara. English speakers also try SAH-ruh, which is close enough.
Nicknames for Sahra
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
- 1974
- Most girls named
- 200735 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3645reached in 1986
- Change vs 2024
- +7.1%15 in 2025, from 14
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.
Sahra in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- שָׂרָה in Hebrew — same name
- سارة (Sara) in Arabic — same name
- Sahra in Turkish — same name
- Sahra in Somali — same name
- Sarah in German — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Minnesota, Washington.
Sahras among us
people named Sahra are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 107,151 born in 2025 was named Sahra
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 Ciria test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Sahra's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Ciria climbed just as high around 1923, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Ciria's path sketches the road Sahra is walking now.
Sahra 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
Sahra beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Sahra in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It is one of the most widely shared names across religious traditions.
- The meaning is settled and entirely positive.
- The spelling signals a specific community rather than a fashion.
- Sarah and Sara are both far more common and will be written instead.
- The h is pronounced in some traditions and silent in others.
- It will be associated with the Sahara, which is an unrelated word.
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What they receive
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Sahra
Feminine · #7133 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Sahras are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 900 people named Sahra are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Sahra in 2025?
- Sahra ranks #7133 among US girl names in 2025, with 15 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Sahra?
- About 1 in every 107,151 US girls born in 2025 was named Sahra — 15 in all.
- Will my child share the name Sahra with classmates?
- Sahra will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Sahra
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Pennie#7133 · Zina#7133 · Elzie#7133 · Rosabel#7133 · Adelene#7133 · Cruz#7133 · Kansas#7133 · Ione#7133
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Sahra? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Sahra and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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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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