Zehra
Feminine · “Radiant”
Zehra is how Turkish says Zahrāʾ, and az-Zahrāʾ — the radiant, the shining one — is the epithet of Fatimah, the daughter of Muhammad. In Turkey it has been one of the ordinary women's names for centuries.
How old is the name Zehra?
Zehra first appears in US birth records in 1977 — 48 years ago. The typical Zehra alive today was born around 2010, making them about 15 years old. About 700 people named Zehra are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Zehra most popular?
Zehra peaked in 2013, reaching #4336 nationally. Today it ranks #5238, 902 places below that high. See the whole 2013 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From zahrāʾ to Zehra
The story of Zehra
Fatimah az-Zahra is the daughter of Muhammad and the wife of Ali, and in Shi'i Islam she is one of the central figures of the faith; her epithet az-Zahra is used across both Sunni and Shi'i naming. Turkish took the name as Zehra and it has been common in Anatolia for as long as records exist, remaining in the Turkish top names through the twentieth century. Bosnian and Albanian Muslims use it too. American records show it thinly from the 1970s with Turkish immigration and rising more recently, with a peak in 2013, alongside the general growth of Muslim naming in the United States.
Meaning
Radiant, shining, blooming
From Arabic zahrāʾ, the feminine of azhar, bright or shining, from a root connected to flowers and to brightness — the same root gives zahra, a flower, and az-Zahra as an epithet. Fatimah az-Zahra is the standard title of the Prophet's daughter. Turkish reshapes the vowels to Zehra, which is the ordinary Turkish form and is not a corruption but a regular adaptation.
How the name formed
- zahrāʾ
- Zahra
- Zehra
Related forms: Zehra · زهراء · Zahra · Zehra · زہرا
Pronouncing Zehra
ZEH-rah
Two syllables, stress on the first. The h between the vowels is lightly sounded in Turkish and often dropped entirely in English, giving ZAIR-uh.
Nicknames for Zehra
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
- 1977
- Most girls named
- 201333 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #4336reached in 2013
- Change vs 2024
- +20.0%24 in 2025, from 20
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.
Zehra in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Zehra in Turkish — same name
- زهراء in Arabic — related form
- Zahra in Persian — related form
- Zehra in Bosnian — same name
- زہرا in Urdu — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: New Jersey, New York, Texas.
Zehras among us
people named Zehra are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 66,969 born in 2025 was named Zehra
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 Inna test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Zehra's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Inna climbed just as high around 1931, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Inna's path sketches the road Zehra is walking now.
Zehra 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
Zehra beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Zehra in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is settled, bright and easy to explain.
- It is instantly recognized across Turkey, the Balkans and the Arab world.
- Five letters and two syllables travel easily.
- Zehra, Zahra and Zara are three names that will be written for each other.
- The middle h is regularly dropped by English speakers.
- It reads as unmistakably Muslim, which some families weigh.
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What they receive
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Zehra
Feminine · #5238 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Zehras 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 Zehra are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Zehra in 2025?
- Zehra ranks #5238 among US girl names in 2025, with 24 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Zehra?
- About 1 in every 66,969 US girls born in 2025 was named Zehra — 24 in all.
- Will my child share the name Zehra with classmates?
- Zehra will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Zehra
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Irena#5238 · Esma#5238 · Dagny#5238 · Venice#5238 · Lisbeth#5238 · Loralie#5238 · Alania#5238 · Erma#5238
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Zehra? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Zehra and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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