Zahira
Feminine · “radiant”
Zahira is an Arabic word for something shining and in flower at once — the root covers brightness and blossoming together, which is a connection Arabic makes and English does not.
How old is the name Zahira?
Zahira first appears in US birth records in 1975 — 50 years ago. The typical Zahira alive today was born around 2009, making them about 16 years old. About 1,200 people named Zahira are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Zahira most popular?
Zahira peaked in 2008, reaching #2663 nationally. Today it ranks #3645, 982 places below that high. See the whole 2008 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From zahir to Zahira
The story of Zahira
The root z-h-r is one of the more attractive in Arabic: it produces the words for a blossom, for brightness and for the morning star, and it names Fatima az-Zahra, the Prophet's daughter, in her most-used epithet. Zahira is the feminine adjective. It is used across the Arab world and in South Asia, and it also entered Spanish through al-Andalus, where Medina Azahara records it.
Meaning
radiant, blooming
From an Arabic root that gives both zahr, a flower, and zahir, shining or brilliant; the same root stands behind Zahra and Zohra, and behind the Arabic name for the planet Venus.
How the name formed
- zahir
- Zahira
Related forms: Zaheera · Zahira · Azahara
Pronouncing Zahira
zah-HEE-rah
Three syllables with the stress in the middle. There is little variation.
Nicknames for Zahira
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
- 200869 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2663reached in 2008
- Change vs 2024
- +7.9%41 in 2025, from 38
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.
Zahira in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Zaheera in Arabic — transliteration
- Zahira in Urdu — same name
- Azahara in Spanish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida.
Zahiras among us
people named Zahira are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 39,202 born in 2025 was named Zahira
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Zahira
- #3645
- Zahira on the 2025 chart
- #913
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Zahira went to 41 girls in 2025, but Zahirah is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 47, which makes it the 913th most-given girls’ name of the year — 2,732 places above the chart.
- Zahira41
- Zahirah6
About 1 girl in 34,197 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 39,202 for Zahira 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 Tally test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Zahira's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Tally climbed just as high around 1958, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Tally's path sketches the road Zahira is walking now.
Zahira 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 Zahira is headed
Zahira 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.
Zahira beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Zahira 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 that joins brightness and blossoming, which is a genuinely good pairing.
- Hira is a complete name in its own right in Urdu and Hindi.
- It begins with Z, which keeps it distinct on any list.
- Zahira, Zaheera and Zahra are all in use and relatives may prefer different ones.
- It is close to Zahra and Sahara in an American ear.
- The Spanish Azahara looks unrelated and comes from the same root.
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What they receive
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Zahira
Feminine · #3645 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Zahiras are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,200 people named Zahira are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Zahira?
- Zahira is the most-used spelling in US records — 41 of the 47 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Zahirah.
- How popular is the name Zahira in 2025?
- Zahira ranks #3645 among US girl names in 2025, with 41 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Zahira?
- About 1 in every 39,202 US girls born in 2025 was named Zahira — 41 in all.
- Will my child share the name Zahira with classmates?
- Zahira will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Zahira
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Elenor#3645 · Azucena#3645 · Alaura#3645 · Judah#3645 · Rylen#3645 · Zamiyah#3645 · Naiara#3645 · Marietta#3645
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Zahira? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Zahira and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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