Suraya
Feminine · “the Pleiades”
Suraya is the Arabic name for the Pleiades — the star cluster that has been used as a calendar by more cultures than almost any other object in the sky.
How old is the name Suraya?
Suraya first appears in US birth records in 1975 — 50 years ago. The typical Suraya alive today was born around 2012, making them about 13 years old. About 700 people named Suraya are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Suraya most popular?
Suraya peaked in 2023, reaching #3833 nationally. Today it ranks #4265, 432 places below that high. See the whole 2023 chart.
Where it comes from
From al-Thurayya to Suraya
The story of Suraya
The Pleiades are one of the very few celestial objects named in almost every culture that has looked up — Greek, Arabic, Japanese, Maori, Lakota and Aboriginal Australian traditions all have names and stories for the same seven stars. Arabic al-Thurayya marked seasons for planting and travel. The name is used across the Arab world, Iran and South Asia, and reaches American records from all of them.
Meaning
the Pleiades
From Arabic al-Thurayya, the Pleiades; the word is a diminutive of a root meaning abundance, for the cluster's many stars. Arab astronomy watched its rising and setting to mark the agricultural year.
How the name formed
- al-Thurayya
- Suraya
Related forms: Thurayya · Soraya · Suraiya
Pronouncing Suraya
soo-RY-ah
Three syllables with the stress in the middle. Persian gives so-RY-ah.
Nicknames for Suraya
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
- 1975
- Most girls named
- 202339 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3833reached in 2023
- Change vs 2024
- +17.9%33 in 2025, from 28
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.
Suraya in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Thurayya in Arabic — transliteration
- Soraya in Persian — same name
- Suraiya in Urdu — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, New York, Florida.
Surayas among us
people named Suraya are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 48,705 born in 2025 was named Suraya
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Suraya
- #4265
- Suraya on the 2025 chart
- #906
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Suraya went to 33 girls in 2025, but Suraiya, Surayah and Surayya are the same name said out loud. Together the 4 spellings went to 54, which makes it the 906th most-given girls’ name of the year — 3,359 places above the chart.
- Suraya33
- Suraiya10
- Surayah6
- Surayya5
About 1 girl in 29,764 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 48,705 for Suraya 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 Destin test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Suraya's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Destin climbed just as high around 1996, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Destin's path sketches the road Suraya is walking now.
Suraya 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 Suraya is headed
Suraya should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low 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.
Suraya beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Suraya in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled meaning tied to one of the most universally recognized sights in the sky.
- Raya is a complete short form in current use.
- Recognized across the Arab world, Iran and South Asia.
- Soraya, Suraya, Thurayya and Suraiya are all in use and none is dominant.
- The Arabic th is rendered as s in most transliterations.
- It is close to Soraya and Sarah in an American ear.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Suraya
Feminine · #4265 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Surayas 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 Suraya are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Suraya?
- Suraya is the most-used spelling in US records — 33 of the 54 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Suraiya, Surayah and Surayya.
- How popular is the name Suraya in 2025?
- Suraya ranks #4265 among US girl names in 2025, with 33 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Suraya?
- About 1 in every 48,705 US girls born in 2025 was named Suraya — 33 in all.
- Will my child share the name Suraya with classmates?
- Suraya will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Suraya
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 Suraya? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Suraya and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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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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