Soraya
- Gender
- Girl
- Say it
- so-RY-a
- Origin
- Arabic
- UK rank, 2025
- #561 for girls
- US rank, 2025
- #862 for girls
Soraya is a girls' name of Arabic origin, meaning “the Pleiades”. In 2025 it ranked 561st for girls in the UK (76 babies) and 862nd for girls in the US (313 babies).
What does Soraya mean?
Arabic: Persian form of Arabic Thurayya
“the Pleiades”
The Persian form of Arabic Thurayya, the Pleiades star cluster; Queen Soraya was a famous 20th-century wife of the Shah of Iran.
More on Wiktionary.
Is Soraya a girl's or a boy's name?
Soraya is a girls' name. In 2025, it was given to 76 girls in the UK and 313 girls in the US. Too few boys were given it to be listed.
How popular is Soraya in the UK?
- Rank in 2025
- #561among girls
- Babies in 2025
- 76about 1 in 3,700 girls
- Five-year trend
- Steadyup 2% in five years
- Same name in a class
- under 1%chance among 15 girls
In 2025, 76 girls in the UK were named Soraya, making it the 561st most popular name for girls. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 691st.
2025 had the most girls named Soraya of any year since the records began in 1996.
Half of all the girls named Soraya in the UK since 1996 were born between 2008 and 2020, the years shaded on the chart below.
Among girls in 2025, it was 526th in England and Wales.
Soraya in the UK, year by year
| Year | Girls | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 76 | #561 |
| 2024 | 54 | #749 |
| 2023 | 63 | #644 |
| 2022 | 58 | #697 |
| 2021 | 59 | #698 |
| 2020 | 58 | #691 |
| 2019 | 73 | #603 |
| 2018 | 58 | #744 |
| 2017 | 64 | #700 |
| 2016 | 52 | #816 |
| 2015 | 55 | #771 |
| 2014 | 59 | #722 |
| 2013 | 71 | #631 |
| 2012 | 75 | #620 |
| 2011 | 57 | #733 |
| 2010 | 57 | #705 |
| 2009 | 46 | #824 |
| 2008 | 60 | #670 |
| 2007 | 38 | #893 |
| 2006 | 33 | #955 |
| 2005 | 32 | #918 |
| 2004 | 33 | #882 |
| 2003 | 27 | #965 |
| 2002 | 22 | #1,085 |
| 2001 | 24 | #995 |
| 2000 | 19 | #1,137 |
| 1999 | 18 | #1,194 |
| 1998 | 19 | #1,158 |
| 1997 | 24 | #969 |
| 1996 | 11 | #1,621 |
How popular is Soraya in the US?
- Rank in 2025
- #862among girls
- Babies in 2025
- 313about 1 in 5,100 girls
- Five-year trend
- Risingup 37% in five years
- Same name in a class
- under 1%chance among 15 girls
In 2025, 313 girls in the US were named Soraya, making it the 862nd most popular name for girls. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 1,183rd. It first appears in the records in 1955.
2025 had the most girls named Soraya of any year since it first appeared, in 1955.
Half of all the girls named Soraya in the US since 1880 were born between 1999 and 2019, the years shaded on the chart below.
In 2025, 339 girls in the US were given Soraya or a name that sounds the same. With every name's spellings counted this way, that ranks #783, up from #862 for this spelling alone.
- Soraya 313
- Sorayah 26
Soraya in the US, year by year
| Year | Girls | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 313 | #862 |
| 2024 | 292 | #908 |
| 2023 | 212 | #1,148 |
| 2022 | 242 | #1,052 |
| 2021 | 262 | #987 |
| 2020 | 196 | #1,183 |
| 2019 | 215 | #1,125 |
| 2018 | 187 | #1,243 |
| 2017 | 177 | #1,317 |
| 2016 | 197 | #1,236 |
| 2015 | 201 | #1,227 |
| 2014 | 180 | #1,314 |
| 2013 | 192 | #1,242 |
| 2012 | 198 | #1,227 |
| 2011 | 219 | #1,120 |
| 2010 | 197 | #1,223 |
| 2009 | 170 | #1,392 |
| 2008 | 190 | #1,309 |
| 2007 | 237 | #1,095 |
| 2006 | 236 | #1,077 |
| 2005 | 172 | #1,297 |
| 2004 | 144 | #1,430 |
| 2003 | 135 | #1,453 |
| 2002 | 104 | #1,742 |
| 2001 | 100 | #1,774 |
| 2000 | 92 | #1,851 |
| 1999 | 67 | #2,219 |
| 1998 | 75 | #1,989 |
| 1997 | 74 | #1,942 |
| 1996 | 76 | #1,896 |
| 1995 | 67 | #2,023 |
| 1994 | 56 | #2,318 |
| 1993 | 55 | #2,317 |
| 1992 | 56 | #2,313 |
| 1991 | 49 | #2,513 |
| 1990 | 54 | #2,312 |
| 1989 | 52 | #2,273 |
| 1988 | 34 | #2,982 |
| 1987 | 49 | #2,197 |
| 1986 | 43 | #2,343 |
| 1985 | 38 | #2,544 |
| 1984 | 29 | #2,991 |
| 1983 | 40 | #2,359 |
| 1982 | 40 | #2,414 |
| 1981 | 44 | #2,265 |
| 1980 | 53 | #1,981 |
| 1979 | 31 | #2,795 |
| 1978 | 26 | #3,009 |
| 1977 | 27 | #2,908 |
| 1976 | 29 | #2,663 |
| 1975 | 33 | #2,411 |
| 1974 | 19 | #3,426 |
| 1973 | 34 | #2,267 |
| 1972 | 29 | #2,451 |
| 1971 | 49 | #1,805 |
| 1970 | 36 | #2,203 |
| 1969 | 32 | #2,254 |
| 1968 | 35 | #2,024 |
| 1967 | 23 | #2,558 |
| 1966 | 33 | #2,021 |
| 1965 | 40 | #1,801 |
| 1964 | 39 | #1,891 |
| 1963 | 31 | #2,130 |
| 1962 | 31 | #2,112 |
| 1961 | 39 | #1,837 |
| 1960 | 23 | #2,511 |
| 1959 | 21 | #2,516 |
| 1958 | 28 | #2,116 |
| 1957 | 6 | #5,376 |
| 1956 | 0 | – |
| 1955 | 6 | #5,207 |
Names like Soraya
Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.
Safa Safiya Amira Khadija Aaliyah Zainab Sumayyah Hafsa Amaya Hiba Halima Summer
Other spellings of Soraya
Names related to Soraya
Suraya Serayah Suraiya Sora Soraiya Seraya Sayra Saroya Zoraya Soriya
More Arabic names
Muhammad Layla Mohammed Lyla Mohammad Zara Amir Fatima Ali Yahya Zayn Aisha Omar Zahra Hamza Kairo
Sources
Figures from Baby names in England and Wales (Office for National Statistics), Babies' first names (National Records of Scotland), Baby names (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency) and Popular Baby Names (US Social Security Administration). Nameling last updated them on 20 October 2026. How the figures are worked out, and the data to download.
To cite this page: Nameling, “Soraya: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/soraya, updated 20 October 2026.