Thurayya, Soraya

• Origin: Arabic ثريّا, ثريّة
• Usage: English, French, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish
• Meaning: “the Pleiades”
• Gender: Female
• Persian Transcription: ثریا
• Arab pron: thoo-RYE-yah; Eng: soh-RYE-ah

Thurayya is an Arabic feminine name meaning “the Pleiades,” the prominent cluster of stars also known as the Seven Sisters. The Persian form Soraya has become more familiar in the Western world. Other transcriptions include Thuraya, Thurayyah, Surayya, Sureyya, Sorayya and Zoraya.

The name was known in medieval Spain. Isabel de Solís, a Castilian Christian who was captured and taken to the Nasrid court in Granada during the 15th century, converted to Islam and adopted the Arabic name Thurayya, rendered Zoraya or Soraya in Castilian sources. She became the concubine and later wife of Abu l-Hasan Ali, Sultan of Granada, with whom she had two sons. After the fall of Granada, she returned to Christianity and resumed the name Isabel.

Soraya became widely recognized throughout Western Europe because of Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiary (1932–2001), the second wife of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran. She served as Queen consort of Iran from 1951 until their divorce in 1958. Celebrated internationally for her beauty and fashion, she subsequently pursued a brief acting career and became a prominent figure in European high society.

Her influence is particularly evident in France, where Soraya first appeared in the national rankings in 1958—the year of the royal couple’s widely publicized divorce—at #462. Its popularity increased during the following two decades, and the name peaked at #168 in 1977. Although it has since declined, it has remained continuously present in the French rankings and currently stands at #441 (2024).

Soraya has also enjoyed notable popularity in Switzerland and Belgium. In Switzerland, it ranked among the Top 100 Female Names during much of the period between 2004 and 2013, peaking at #82 in 2009. It last appeared at #87 in 2013. In Belgium, it peaked at #138 in 2007 and last ranked at #166 in 2013.

In Spain, where the medieval form Zoraya was already known, Soraya appeared at #98 in 2006. It has not returned to the published annual rankings since then. In Italy, however, the name has experienced a more recent revival, ranking at #141 in 2023 and #152 in 2024.

In the Netherlands, Soraya ranked regularly between 2008 and 2016 and peaked at #201 in 2010. It last appeared in the Dutch rankings in 2018 at #503. In England and Wales, it first entered the Top 1000 Female Names in 1997 at #897. Its use has generally increased, and it reached its highest recorded position of #526 in 2025.

Soraya was historically used in Brazil as well. According to the available decennial statistics, it ranked #533 during the 1960s, #672 during the 1970s and #924 during the 1980s, after which it disappeared from the published rankings.

In the United States, Soraya did not enter the Top 1000 Female Names until 2021, when it ranked #987. After briefly disappearing, it returned at #908 in 2024 and rose to #862 in 2025.

In Italy, it currently ranks in as the 152nd most popular female name

Other forms

• Sureja (Albanian, Bosnian)
• Surayya ثريّا, ثريّة  Сурайя (Arabic, Dari, Chechen, Indonesian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Malay)
• Sürəyya (Azeri)
• Soraja, Surejja (Bosnian)
• Suraiya (Indian, Urdu)
• Sûreyya (Kurdish)
• Soraia (Portuguese)
• Zoraya (Spanish – Medieval)
• Surayyo (Tajik,Uzbek)
• Süreyya (Turkish)

Sources

• https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soraya
• https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soraya_(Vorname)
• https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soraya
• https://www.behindthename.com/name/soraya