| Farah | Sana | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Joy, happiness | Radiance, brilliance, splendor |
| Origin | Arabic | arabic |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | FAH-rah | sah-NAH |
| Syllables | 2 | 2 |
| First appeared | 1960 | 1923 |
| Peak year | 2012 (178) | 2022 (180) |
| In 2025 | 164 | 151 |
| Trend | Steady | Rising |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Farah | Sana |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 973 | 860 |
| 2010s | 1,580 | 1,222 |
| 2000s | 1,185 | 1,186 |
| 1990s | 863 | 888 |
| 1980s | 818 | 478 |
| 1970s | 710 | 142 |
| 1960s | 149 | 43 |
| 1950s | 0 | 39 |
| 1940s | 0 | 5 |
| 1920s | 0 | 10 |
Farah means “joy” or “happiness” in Arabic.
Sana (سناء, sana') derives from the root s-n-w/s-n-y and means 'radiance, brilliance, splendour'. It should be distinguished from the unrelated Arabic word sana ('year') and from Sana'a, the Yemeni capital.
Farah is more popular than Sana today: about 164 US babies were given the name Farah in 2025, compared with 151 named Sana.
Farah means Joy, happiness (Arabic origin), while Sana means Radiance, brilliance, splendor (arabic origin).
In US records, Farah first appears in 1960 and Sana in 1923, so Sana has the longer recorded history.