Zahra
Meaning
radiant (the epithet of Fatima, az-Zahra) or blooming flower; two Arabic names share the spelling
The story
Zahra is two Arabic names sharing one English spelling, and the difference is worth respecting. Written one way, zahraa, it means shining, brilliant, bright, and is the epithet of Fatima, the Prophet Muhammad's daughter, remembered as az-Zahra. Written another, zahra, it means blooming flower, splendour, from a root that covers both shining and blooming. Behind the Name keeps two separate entries and so do we: radiance in one register, a flower in the other, never one blended meaning. The name belongs to Arabic, Persian, Indonesian and Urdu traditions alike, and the international numbers are striking: 6th in Azerbaijan in 2025 by Behind the Name's count, 116th in England and Wales, 538th in the United States. The American record shows 111 girls in the 1970s and growth in every completed decade since, reaching 3,645 in the 2010s, with 3,062 already this decade, within six hundred of that full total.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Zahra peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
142 people · the #32,284 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 1,000,000 · median age 10
Among people named Zahra living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 39 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Zahra
Most people given the name Zahra in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Zahra deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Zahra truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Zahra fits with your family’s names and surname.
Where Zahra travels
Indonesian · flower, radiant one (widely used across Indonesia)
Persian · flower, radiant one
Keep exploring
Indonesian baby names · Persian baby names · Arabic baby names
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