| Asha | Shreya | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | hope, wish | Auspicious, fortunate |
| Origin | sanskrit | Sanskrit |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | AH-shah | SHRAY-ah |
| Syllables | 2 | 2 |
| First appeared | 0 | 1980 |
| Peak year | 2000 (250) | 2003 (314) |
| In 2025 | 0 | 62 |
| Trend | Vintage | Declining |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Asha | Shreya |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 973 | 462 |
| 2010s | 1,947 | 1,583 |
| 2000s | 2,120 | 2,380 |
| 1990s | 2,162 | 555 |
| 1980s | 1,229 | 57 |
| 1970s | 566 | 0 |
| 1960s | 72 | 0 |
From Sanskrit 'asha' (आशा) meaning 'hope, wish, desire'. Flag: an identically spelled but etymologically DIFFERENT Avestan word 'asha' means 'truth/cosmic order' (Zoroastrianism), and the Swahili name Asha derives from Arabic for 'life' - these are separate roots that share a spelling.
Shreya means “auspicious,” “best” or “fortunate” in Sanskrit.
Shreya is more popular than Asha today: about 62 US babies were given the name Shreya in 2025, compared with 0 named Asha.
Asha means hope, wish (sanskrit origin), while Shreya means Auspicious, fortunate (Sanskrit origin).
In US records, Asha first appears in 0 and Shreya in 1980, so Asha has the longer recorded history.