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Saira

Feminine · “traveler”

1967high 2003
#2298 in the U.S.given to only a few children a year
rare79 girls in 2025

Saira is a traveler in Arabic — one who journeys — and it is also read as a bird in Urdu naming.

How old is the name Saira?

Saira first appears in US birth records in 1967 — 58 years ago. The typical Saira alive today was born around 2004, making them about 21 years old. About 3,600 people named Saira are estimated to be alive in the US today.

When was the name Saira most popular?

Saira peaked in 2001, reaching #1585 nationally. Today it ranks #2298, 713 places below that high. See the whole 2001 chart.

Compare this nameMore “S” names

Lists built from the same records:

I

Where it comes from

The story of Saira

Sara in Arabic means to travel, and sa'ir names one who journeys — a word that also gives sira, the biography or 'journey' of the Prophet. Saira Banu made the name widely known in South Asia. It appears in American records in current use.

Meaningscholars disagree

traveler, wanderer

Generally from the Arabic sa'ira, 'traveler' or 'one who moves', from sara, 'to travel'. A second reading in South Asian sources gives 'bird'. The traveler reading is the better documented; the bird reading circulates without a clear source.

How the name formed

  1. sara
  2. sa'ira
  3. Saira

Related forms: سائرة · Saira · Sayra

Pronouncing Saira

SY-rah

Two syllables, stress on the first. Arabic has a glottal stop between the vowels that English drops.

Nicknames for Saira

Moderate

SaiThe front sound alone, and a name in its own right in several languages
SaraA near-homophone from a different family, often substituted
II

What the data says

The long climb, and where it stands now

GIRLS NAMED · 1967–20251216101217919672025

US babies named Saira per year from 1967 to 2025
AVERAGE RANK BY DECADE#1#10#100#1000#15851960s2020s

The same years in position rather than babies

First recorded
1967
Most girls named
2003121 — the highest on record
Peak rank
#1585reached in 2001
Change vs 2024
−18.6%79 in 2025, from 97
Saira sits in the rare tail. Its best year on record was 2003, with 121 girls. Today it is given to few enough children that it does not enter the ranked charts at all.

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.

Saira in other languages

The same name elsewhere

  • سائرة in Arabic — transliteration
  • Saira in Urdu — same name
  • Sayra in English — spelling variant

Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.

Sairas among us

3,600

people named Saira are estimated to be alive in the US today

About 1 girl in 20,345 born in 2025 was named Saira

Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method

Spellings of Saira

#2298
Saira on the 2025 chart
#860
counting every spelling

The SSA counts spellings, not names. Saira went to 79 girls in 2025, but Sayra and Sairah are the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 100, which makes it the 860th most-given girls’ name of the year — 1,438 places above the chart.

About 1 girl in 16,073 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 20,345 for Saira 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

III

Is it right for you

The Deanie test

Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Saira's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Deanie climbed just as high around 1939, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Deanie's path sketches the road Saira is walking now.

40%chance Saira will feel “very 2020s” by 2040
Saira, aligned on its peakDeanie· peak 1939not yet written
#1#10#100#1000peak-40 yrs+60 yrsDeanie · #12728Saira today
Saira today is about where Deanie stood in 1963 — 24 years past a #1585-sized peak. By 1978, Deanie had settled around #7638.
Ages quietlysteadyDates fast

Saira 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 Saira is headed

19672030

US babies named Saira per year, 1967 to 2025, with a projection to 2030

Saira should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.

Steady+1% by 2030projected around #2,387 in 2030

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.

Saira beside its neighbors

The names ranked closest to Saira in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.

Sairathis name79#2298Shyla79#2298Skylah79#2298Therese79#2298Jennie79#2298

US girls given each name in 2025.

The trade-off

Practical strengths
  • That the biography of the Prophet is called a 'journey' from the same root is a first-rate connection.
  • The traveler meaning is concrete and appealing.
  • Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk in English.
What to consider
  • The 'bird' reading in circulation is not well sourced.
  • Sara and Saira are close enough to be substituted constantly.
  • It reads as specifically South Asian or Arabic.

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Saira

Feminine · #2298 in the U.S.

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Frequently asked

How many Sairas are there in the world?
No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,600 people named Saira are estimated to be alive in the US today.
How do you spell Saira?
Saira is the most-used spelling in US records — 79 of the 100 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Sayra and Sairah.
How popular is the name Saira in 2025?
Saira ranks #2298 among US girl names in 2025, with 79 babies given the name.
How rare is the name Saira?
About 1 in every 20,345 US girls born in 2025 was named Saira — 79 in all.
Will my child share the name Saira with classmates?
Saira will almost certainly be the only one in school.

Ranked beside Saira

Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.

Shyla#2298 · Skylah#2298 · Therese#2298 · Jennie#2298 · Shira#2298 · Jahzara#2298 · Emelyn#2298 · Khelani#2298

Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Saira? See the current top 100.

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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology

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