From Hebrew and Arabic roots for radiance or brilliance, conveying a meaning of shining light.
Zohara is a name of profound spiritual and literary significance, rooted in the Hebrew and Aramaic word *זֹהַר* (Zohar), meaning radiance, splendor, or brilliance. It is the direct feminine form of Zohar, a name that carries immense weight in Jewish mystical tradition: the *Sefer HaZohar* — the Book of Splendor — is the foundational text of Kabbalah, attributed to Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai in the 2nd century CE, though most scholars date its composition to 13th-century Spain under Moses de León. To name a child Zohara is to invoke this entire luminous tradition.
In Israeli culture, Zohara enjoys genuine historical currency. Zohara Halévy, known as Zohreh, was a celebrated Persian-Israeli singer whose career in the mid-20th century helped shape Mizrahi musical culture. The name appears throughout Sephardic Jewish communities across North Africa, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean, where it has been carried by women for generations as a wish for inner light and spiritual brilliance.
Zohara has begun attracting broader attention in English-speaking countries as parents explore Hebrew names beyond the most familiar tier. Its similarity to the trending Zahara (famously chosen by Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt) has raised its profile, yet Zohara retains a distinctly spiritual and scholarly dimension that Zahara, with its Swahili-Arabic origins, does not share. The name feels at once ancient and radiant, grounded in mysticism and yet entirely wearable in the modern world.