Meaning of the nameSoraya

Soraya is a spelling of the name Soraia, which means “bright gem; the Pleiades”.

Meaning

“bright gem; the Pleiades”

People (2022): 12,876
Rank in Brazil: #1,428
Median age: 43 years
2010 Census: 7,290; people

Soraya in the 2022 Census

People with the first name Soraya, by the decade they were born. In the chart, 70 = the 1970s and 20+ = 2020 to 2022. The largest group was born in the 1960s (3,250 people).

12,829 women 47 men

Source: IBGE, 2022 Demographic Census, Nomes no Brasil. The census counts the first name of people alive in 2022; small counts are not published, and the first group covers everyone born before 1940. How to read these data.

Where the name Soraya is most common

States with the highest share of people named Soraya in the population, in the 2022 Census.

All states

State	People	% of population
São Paulo	2,890	0.007%
Minas Gerais	1,803	0.009%
Rio de Janeiro	1,624	0.010%
Bahia	636	0.005%
Paraná	532	0.005%
Pernambuco	514	0.006%
Pará	505	0.006%
Ceará	469	0.005%
Goiás	430	0.006%
Maranhão	388	0.006%
Santa Catarina	365	0.005%
Espírito Santo	346	0.009%
Amazonas	333	0.008%
Distrito Federal	332	0.012%
Paraíba	262	0.007%
Rio Grande do Sul	211	0.002%
Rio Grande do Norte	206	0.006%
Alagoas	187	0.006%
Mato Grosso do Sul	157	0.006%
Mato Grosso	146	0.004%
Piauí	134	0.004%
Sergipe	110	0.005%
Tocantins	106	0.007%
Rondônia	64	0.004%
Amapá	53	0.007%
Roraima	40	0.006%
Acre	33	0.004%

States with fewer than 15 people with the name are not shown: IBGE does not publish those counts.

The spelling Soraya

A spelling with Y; Wiktionary gives it as a borrowing from Persian, where the word means 'bright gem' and also the Pleiades. Proportionally, it is most common in the Distrito Federal.

About the name Soraia

Wiktionary records Soraia in Portuguese as a borrowing from Arabic ثُرَيَّا (ṯurayyā), the Arabic name of the Pleiades; the same source explains the Arabic word as a diminutive of ṯariyy, 'numerous, abundant'. Behind the Name presents Soraya as the Persian form of Thurayya and gives Soraia as a Portuguese variant. In the 2022 Census, IBGE recorded 27,153 people named Soraia, with a median age of 42. The name is almost always female and, proportionally, it is most common in Minas Gerais.

Other spellings of Soraia

Spelling	People (2022)
Soraia	27,153
Soraya	12,876

Sources

Wiktionary: Soraya · en.wiktionary.org · meaning
Behind the Name: Soraya · behindthename.com · origin
Behind the Name: Soraya · behindthename.com · origin

Questions about the name Soraya

What does the name Soraya mean?

Soraya means “bright gem; the Pleiades”, according to Wiktionary.

How many people are named Soraya in Brazil?

IBGE's 2022 Census recorded 12,876 people with the first name Soraya, which ranks it number 1,428 among the country's names. The largest group was born in the 1960s.

Is Soraya a boy's or a girl's name?

Soraya is a female name: in the 2022 Census, 12,829 women and 47 men had this name.

What is the origin of the name Soraya?

Soraya is a name of Persian and Arabic origin. The sources are listed at the end of the page.

In which Brazilian state is Soraya most common?

Proportionally, in Distrito Federal: 0.012% of the state's population is named Soraya (332 people), according to the 2022 Census.

What are the other spellings of Soraya?

Soraia. IBGE counts each spelling separately.

More names of Persian origin

See all

Spotted a mistake? Report a correction for Soraya with a source. See the methodology.