Soraya

femaleStatistical record

What official birth registration shows about Soraya: which national registrars published it, in which years, and how its recorded position changed.

No researched meaning, origin or pronunciation yet — what that means.

Soraya: Recorded every year since 1996, it reached #570 in 2019, and it stood at #696 in 2024.

2registrars recorded it
34times a registrar ranked it
29years from first to last
#570highest recorded position
9groupings it qualifies for

Region

Rising

among girls in England and Wales · 1996–2024

View as table

England and Wales · Girls rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#1646
1997	#897
1998	#1076
1999	#1107
2000	#1139
2001	#936
2002	#1032
2003	#933
2004	#821
2005	#866
2006	#909
2007	#836
2008	#618
2009	#771
2010	#655
2011	#692
2012	#580
2013	#608
2014	#699
2015	#722
2016	#790
2017	#661
2018	#720
2019	#570
2020	#643
2021	#654
2022	#647
2023	#608
2024	#696

VerifiedSource: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales.Confidence: high.

See all England and Wales names · Source: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales

What the data shows

RisingEngland and Wales · Girls

Recorded in official data among girls in England and Wales in every year from 1996 to 2024.

In 2021: #586 among girls in Republic of Ireland, #654 among girls in England and Wales.

Official data from 2 national registrars across 2 regions, 1996–2024 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1996
First recorded at #1646 among girls in England and Wales in 1996 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
England and Wales · Girls
Highest recorded1996–2024
Highest recorded position: #570 among girls in England and Wales, in 2019 (recorded 1996–2024).
England and Wales · Girls
Most recent2024
Most recently recorded at #696 among girls in England and Wales, in 2024.
England and Wales · Girls

Soraya appears in 2 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is England and Wales · Girls, which has ranked it in 29 years beginning in 1996, and has registered 1,292 births with the name.

Soraya across 2 official records

Each registrar publishes its own list, so these figures are read down a row, never across one. A position in one country is not comparable with a position in another, and Namewise never combines them into a single ranking. The birth counts do not compare across rows either, for a different reason: England and Wales registers roughly thirty times as many births a year as Northern Ireland, so a larger total says which registrar recorded it as much as how widely the name was given.

Soraya's first, highest and most recent recorded position in each official list, with the number of births each registrar registered with the name and its largest single year
Published list	First recorded	Highest	Most recent	Years recorded	Births registered	Most in one year
England and Wales · Girls	#1646 (1996)	#570 (2019)	#696 (2024)	29 of 29	1,292 (1996–2024)	73 (2012)
Republic of Ireland · Girls	#582 (2009)	#582 (2009)	#586 (2021)	5 of 13	24 (2009–2021)	6 (2009)

Soraya by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Births registered with the name in each decade of this one list, with the number of years the list covers in that decade. Bars are scaled on births a year, which is the figure that compares between decades — a decade the list only partly covers has a smaller total without being a quieter decade. Figures belong to this registrar alone and do not carry to another.

Births registered with Soraya in England and Wales · Girls, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1990s	71	4 of 10	18
2000s	328	10 of 10	33
2010sbusiest	602	10 of 10	60
2020s	291	5 of 10	58

Across England and Wales · Girls, the 2010s were its busiest decade, averaging 60 births a year.

See the names England and Waleshas recorded the most births with →

Soraya appears in

Groupings this name qualifies for under their own stated rules, from the same official statistics shown above.

Popularity data

Official popularity data is available for 2 regions, from 1996 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #570 in England and Wales in 2019.

Soraya's recorded popularity observations by year, region and administrative category, including rank, registered births, source confidence and when each region's data was last reviewed.
Year	Region	Category	Rank	Births registered	Confidence	Status
2024	England and Wales	female	#696	54	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	female	#608	62	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	female	#647	58	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	female	#654	59	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	female	#643	58	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	female	#570	71	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	female	#720	55	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	female	#661	63	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	female	#790	49	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	female	#722	55	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	female	#699	56	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	female	#608	67	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	female	#580	73	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	female	#692	56	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	female	#655	57	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	female	#771	46	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	female	#618	60	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	female	#836	38	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	female	#909	32	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	female	#866	32	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	female	#821	33	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	female	#933	26	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	female	#1032	21	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	female	#936	23	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	female	#1139	17	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	female	#1107	18	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	female	#1076	19	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	female	#897	24	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	female	#1646	10	High	Verified
2021	Republic of Ireland	female	#586	6	High	Verified
2019	Republic of Ireland	female	#716	4	High	Verified
2017	Republic of Ireland	female	#873	3	High	Verified
2013	Republic of Ireland	female	#660	5	High	Verified
2009	Republic of Ireland	female	#582	6	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
Republic of Ireland hub — collected by CSO Ireland

See methodology and data sources for how popularity data is collected and what "confidence" means.

What the record shows

Recorded by 2 registrars between 1996 and 2024, ranked in 29 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #570, first reached in 2019.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 73 births, registered in England and Wales in 2012.

A second registrar first ranked it in 2009, and 13 years separate the first registrar to record it from the last.

Every figure here is counted from the seven official registrars Namewise holds. A position is only ever a place within the list that published it, and a record that thins or stops is a fact about what registrars printed — never about how many children received the name.

Where to go next

Records with a comparable body of evidence, so the catalogue can be read outward from this one. Each group states the rule it was selected by.

Next in the catalogue

The records either side of this one alphabetically.

Sora · #2755, 17y
Soraiya · #2233, 17y
Sorayah · #2449, 17y
Sorcha · #74, 58y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 2 registrars, over a similar number of ranked years, whose highest position is closest to this one. A similar body of evidence — never a claim that the names themselves are alike.

Misha · #571, 29y
Samia · #571, 29y
Tamika · #571, 26y
Elouise · #574, 29y

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1990 and 1999.

Fahmida · #571, 25y
Misha · #571, 29y
Roshni · #571, 29y
Samia · #571, 29y

Soraya was ranked #570 in England and Wales · Girls in 2019. These are the names immediately either side of it on that published list — a fact about the registrar's own output, not a similarity judgement.

Soraya and the names beside it

Two names in the same published list are measured on the same scale, in the same year, by the same registrar — so these are positions that genuinely passed each other, not a similarity judgement. Drawn from the 2,573 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Soraya without appearing here.

Soraya moved ahead of

Janice Compare
In 1996 they stood at #1646 and #1364 in England and Wales · Girls; by 1997 that had become #897 and #2738.
Yvonne Compare
In 2000 they stood at #1139 and #1095 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2001 that had become #936 and #2023.
Helene Compare
In 1996 they stood at #1646 and #1168 in England and Wales · Girls; by 1997 that had become #897 and #1802.
Belinda Compare
In 2003 they stood at #933 and #909 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2004 that had become #821 and #1715.

Moved ahead of Soraya

Maja Compare
In 2005 they stood at #866 and #951 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2006 that had become #909 and #456.
Harper Compare
In 2011 they stood at #692 and #858 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2012 that had become #580 and #284.
Ada Compare
In 2008 they stood at #618 and #699 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2009 that had become #771 and #547.
Mila Compare
In 2008 they stood at #618 and #710 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2009 that had become #771 and #547.

Moved the opposite way to Soraya

Abigail Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Soraya went from #1646 to #696 while Abigail went from #21 to #154.
Aimee Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Soraya went from #1646 to #696 while Aimee went from #70 to #1603.
Aisling Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Soraya went from #1646 to #696 while Aisling went from #440 to #2000.
Alex Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Soraya went from #1646 to #696 while Alex went from #161 to #2253.

Moved the same way as Soraya

Ada Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Soraya went from #1646 to #696 and Ada from #2683 to #40.
Alma Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Soraya went from #1646 to #696 and Alma from #2096 to #234.
Alyssa Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Soraya went from #1646 to #696 and Alyssa from #783 to #285.
Amalie Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Soraya went from #1646 to #696 and Amalie from #2096 to #1128.

What's not yet available

Meaning
Origin
Pronunciation
Nicknames and spelling variants

Absence from this list does not mean the name isn't genuinely meaningful or widely used — only that Namewise hasn't sourced and reviewed that content yet. Absence from a specific year or geography above does not prove zero use there either; official statistics only publish names above a minimum threshold.

Official popularity data is available for 2 regions, from 1996 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #570 in England and Wales in 2019. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Soraya

Soraya at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Soraya across 2 official records

Soraya by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Soraya appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Names published alongside Soraya

Soraya and the names beside it

Soraya moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Soraya

Moved the opposite way to Soraya

Moved the same way as Soraya

Soraya at a glance

Soraya across 2 official records

Soraya by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Soraya appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Names published alongside Soraya

Soraya and the names beside it

Soraya moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Soraya

Moved the opposite way to Soraya

Moved the same way as Soraya