Zahra
A name most Poles have never come across: only about 126 carry it. It's climbing from almost nothing now, with five newborn girls last year, more than in the years before. From Hebrew, meaning shining or brilliant.
Zahra Pronunciation
Zahra is pronounced ZAHKH-rah (/ˈzaxra/).
What Zahra means
Where Zahra comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Zahra reaches back to a Hebrew root, zahar, which means to shine or to give off light. Its close relative zohar names brilliance itself, the glow rather than the lamp. The short meaning that follows, shining and brilliant, sits right on that root.
In Arabic the name found its long home. There it stands near zahara, to blossom, and near the sense of a bright flower. Fatimah az-Zahra, the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad, was known by that byname, the radiant one. Through her the name spread across a wide Muslim world.
A Polish teacher reading the class register might find Zahra between Zofia and Zuzanna. The name stays short on the page. Its Hebrew root means to shine, and in Polish that arrives as jasna and kwitnąca, bright and blooming.
How many people are named Zahra
1 in 178919 women in Poland is named Zahra. 126 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #2987 among female names.
Zahra's popularity over time
5 girls were given the name in 2025, ranking #982 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2024.
Where Zahra is most popular
Zahra is most popular in Lesser Poland, 376% above the national average (2 girls born 2019–2025), followed by Masovian (+205%).
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Lesser Poland2 girls born+376%
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Masovian2 girls born+205%
Zahra as a middle name
Zahra is a first name for 126 women in Poland and a middle name for another 50, a 72/28 split. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 971st, between Wita (50) and Alisa (49).
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#969 Tadiwanashe50
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#970 Wita50
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#971 Zahra50
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#972 Alisa49
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#973 Andreea49