Sora
Feminine · “sky”
Sora is given to both — 1,799 girls and 663 boys since 1880. See Sora as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Sora is the sky in Japanese — sora, the ordinary word, and one of the few Japanese names that is a plain noun rather than a character compound.
How old is the name Sora?
Sora first appears in US birth records in 1972 — 53 years ago. The typical Sora is a kid of about 11 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,800 people named Sora are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Sora most popular?
Sora peaked in 2023, reaching #1850 nationally. Today it ranks #1942, 92 places below that high. See the whole 2023 chart.
Sora appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From 空 to Sora
The story of Sora
The character 空 means both sky and emptiness, and the doubling is not accidental — the Heart Sutra's central term is that word. Sora is used for both sexes in Japan and rose sharply from the 1990s. Separately it is a Korean name. Both routes brought it to America, where it is in current use.
Meaning
sky
From the Japanese sora, 空, 'sky' or 'emptiness' — the same character reads ku and names the Buddhist concept of emptiness. A separate Korean Sora means 'conch shell'. Both are genuine. The Japanese word is ordinary and the meaning undisputed.
How the name formed
- 空
- sora
- Sora
Related forms: 空 · 소라 · Soraya
Pronouncing Sora
SOH-rah
Two syllables, evenly weighted in Japanese. English speakers put the stress on the first.
Nicknames for Sora
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
- 1972
- Most girls named
- 2023108 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1850reached in 2023
- Change vs 2024
- −1.0%99 in 2025, from 100
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.
Sora in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- 空 in Japanese — transliteration
- 소라 in Korean — transliteration
- Soraya in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, New York, New Jersey.
Soras among us
people named Sora are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 16,235 born in 2025 was named Sora
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 Oksana test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Sora's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Oksana climbed just as high around 1995, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Oksana's path sketches the road Sora is walking now.
Sora 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 Sora is headed
Sora looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 15% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
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.
Sora beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Sora in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That the same character means sky and emptiness is a genuinely fine detail.
- Two living traditions can claim it, Japanese and Korean.
- Four letters, two syllables, and never misheard.
- It is thoroughly unisex in Japanese.
- The Korean Sora is a separate name with a different meaning.
- Sarah and Sora are close enough in some accents to be misheard.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Sora to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Sora
Feminine · #1942 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Soras are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,800 people named Sora are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Sora in 2025?
- Sora ranks #1942 among US girl names in 2025, with 99 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Sora?
- About 1 in every 16,235 US girls born in 2025 was named Sora — 99 in all.
- Will my child share the name Sora with classmates?
- Sora will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Sora
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Iyanna#1942 · Nahomi#1942 · Aziyah#1942 · Avia#1942 · Nazly#1942 · Kamiya#1942 · Priya#1942 · Kyndall#1942
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Sora? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Sora and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
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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