Surah
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "passage" or "chapter".
Name Census estimates that about 248 living Americans carry the first name Surah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Surah today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Surah births was 2018 (29 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Surah. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
248
~ 1 in 1,382,074 Americans
Peak year
2018
29 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,262
Tracked since 2007
Popularity
Surah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Surah from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 125 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Surah by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Surah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Surahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Pennsylvania, California, New York recorded the most babies named Surah, while New York, California, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 33 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Surah
The name Surah has its origins in the Arabic language and Islamic culture. The word "surah" literally translates to "chapter" or "division" in Arabic, and is specifically used to refer to the chapters of the Quran, the central religious text of Islam.
Surah is not a common given name, but it has been used as a name in some Muslim communities, particularly in South Asia and the Middle East. The name is likely derived from the Arabic word "surah" as a way to honor or pay homage to the Quran and Islamic faith.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Surah can be found in the historical records of the Mughal Empire, which ruled over parts of South Asia from the 16th to the 19th centuries. There are records of a princess named Surah Begum, who was the daughter of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb and lived in the 17th century.
Another notable historical figure with the name Surah was Surah al-Nisa'i, a renowned female Islamic scholar and hadith collector who lived in the 9th century CE. She was born in the city of Nisa, located in modern-day Iran, and contributed significantly to the compilation and preservation of the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad.
In the 20th century, Surah Fatima was a prominent Egyptian feminist and activist who fought for women's rights and social reforms in Egypt. She was born in 1905 and played a crucial role in the establishment of the Egyptian Feminist Union in the 1920s.
Another notable figure with the name Surah was Surah Khan Bangash, a Muslim ruler and military commander who lived in the 18th century and played a significant role in the Afghan-Sikh Wars. He was the ruler of the Bangash Sardars, a Pashtun tribal confederacy in what is now modern-day Pakistan and Afghanistan.
In more recent times, Surah Tharani was an Indian actress and dancer who appeared in several Tamil and Malayalam films in the 1970s and 1980s. She was born in 1952 and is remembered for her performances in popular films such as "Thrishna" and "Oru Kudakkeezhil."
While the name Surah is not as common as some other Arabic or Islamic names, it holds a significant meaning and connection to the Quran and Islamic faith. Its use as a given name has been recorded throughout various historical periods and in different parts of the world where Islam has had a presence.
People
Surah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Surah as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Surah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Surah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 248 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Surah going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,382,074 US residents.
Is Surah a common name?
We classify Surah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 250 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Surah most popular?
The single biggest year for Surah was 2018, when 29 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Surah is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Surah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Surah in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.