A name. A world of connections.

Sorcha

“light, radiant”

feminineLatin script

/ˈsɝkə/ · English

Origin: Irish
4 language contexts: English Irish Scottish Gaelic +1 more
Follow the evidence: 8 cited sources Source-reported

01 / Meaning & origin

About Sorcha

Sorcha is a feminine given name documented in English, Irish, Scottish Gaelic and 1 other language. English Wiktionary records the meaning “light, radiant”.

2 source accounts

Irish origin

Source-reported

Meaning: “light, radiant”

Borrowed from Irish and Scottish Gaelic Sorcha (literally “light, radiant”).

Sources for this account (6)

Wiktionary: SorchaCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Greek Wiktionary: SorchaCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
French Wiktionary: SorchaCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Polish Wiktionary: SorchaCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Russian Wiktionary: SorchaCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Turkish Wiktionary: SorchaCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14

Explore 1 more accountHide additional accountsSource accounts may describe the same origin.

Polish Wiktionary accountSource-reportedgael.

gael.

Sources for this account (1)

Polish Wiktionary: SorchaCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14

Documented usage

View usage notes (5)

Feminine usage · Wikidata Q64235432
Feminine usage in English · Wiktionary: Sorcha
Feminine usage in Irish · Wiktionary: Sorcha
Feminine usage in Scottish Gaelic · Wiktionary: Sorcha
Feminine usage in Scots · Wiktionary: Sorcha

Explore all 4 language contexts

Linguistic usage labels come from name dictionaries. They are separate from the sex categories recorded in statistical files.

Spelling and script

Written form “Sorcha” in the Latin script. Wikidata item Q64235432.

All pronunciation details (12)

/ˈsɝkə/ — English
/ˈsɔːɹkə/ — English
/ˈsɔːɹʃə/ — English
/\ˈsɔːɹkə\/ — English
/\ˈsɔːɹʃə\/ — English
/\ˈsɝkə\/ — English
/ˈsɔɾˠəxə/ — Irish
/\ˈsɔɾˠəxə\/ — Irish
/ˈsˠɔɾˠəxə/ — Irish
/ˈs̪ɔɾaxə/ — Scottish Gaelic (Uist)
/ˈsorxə/ — Scots
/ˈsorxə/ — Scots

02 / Across borders

Where Sorcha is used

Explore published naming statistics and documented language connections around the world.

The name atlas

Across borders

countries in our sources

Select a country to follow Sorcha’s connections around the world.

5 countries with published statistics. Language records show cultural connections; they do not measure how common a name is.

Selected country

United States

Statistics + language records

United States, 2025: 7 girls (rank 11932). Documented as a given name in English.

Explore United States

4 of 11 countries

03 / By the numbers

Popularity over time

Follow the spelling through the years, one published dataset at a time.

Ireland

1964–2025 Spelling: Sorcha

Region and dataset

Recorded category girls

Latest · 2025: 15; births; Rank #273
Peak year: 1997; 71 births

Hover to explore a year. Use arrow keys when a chart point has focus.

Source: Central Statistics Office · Ireland — babies' first names with three or more occurrences, 1964–2025

Published integer counts retained without rounding.

Per million is unavailable: this source has no matching published total.

Show the data table

Sorcha in Ireland, girls: births and rank by year
Year	Births	Rank	Status
1964	no value	no value	not covered
1965	no value	no value	not covered
1966	no value	no value	not covered
1967	no value	no value	not covered
1968	4	357	observed
1969	7	303	observed
1970	5	363	observed
1971	13	250	observed
1972	13	259	observed
1973	23	215	observed
1974	30	190	observed
1975	26	195	observed
1976	24	209	observed
1977	37	166	observed
1978	35	180	observed
1979	25	210	observed
1980	48	150	observed
1981	25	212	observed
1982	29	190	observed
1983	29	185	observed
1984	14	267	observed
1985	34	162	observed
1986	49	119	observed
1987	37	146	observed
1988	33	153	observed
1989	31	158	observed
1990	51	115	observed
1991	43	124	observed
1992	58	101	observed
1993	53	107	observed
1994	59	99	observed
1995	61	91	observed
1996	64	80	observed
1997	71	76	observed
1998	48	78	observed
1999	61	74	observed
2000	59	80	observed
2001	44	110	observed
2002	47	107	observed
2003	59	88	observed
2004	42	118	observed
2005	38	131	observed
2006	54	104	observed
2007	49	121	observed
2008	41	148	observed
2009	43	143	observed
2010	38	164	observed
2011	34	170	observed
2012	36	164	observed
2013	20	254	observed
2014	29	184	observed
2015	22	233	observed
2016	18	254	observed
2017	14	316	observed
2018	11	387	observed
2019	15	296	observed
2020	16	264	observed
2021	5	661	observed
2022	18	237	observed
2023	9	404	observed
2024	15	275	observed
2025	15	273	observed

About this dataset and its counting rules

Statistics count the spelling “Sorcha” as recorded by the publisher. When a spelling has several independent origins, the counts are not split between them. Counts measure births. Gaps are years without a published value, not zeros.

Rates per million are unavailable for this series because no compatible denominator has been imported.

Universe: First given names on Irish birth registrations; CSO tables VSA50 (boys) and VSA60 (girls). From 2017, births registered during the calendar year.
Rounding: Published integer counts retained without rounding.
Suppression: CSO publishes names with three or more occurrences. Null cells are not emitted; absence is unknown, not zero.
Ranking: Published ranks from VSA50C02 and VSA60C02 retained unchanged, including ties.

Retrieved 2026-10-15 · CC-BY-4.0

Read our methodology

04 / Through time

History

Historical scholarship

Passages quoted verbatim from public-domain reference works. They reflect the scholarship of their time, not current consensus, and may use obsolete spellings.

1884From the archives
SORCHA— “bright”
Sarah now and then occurs in England, as with Sara Beauchamp, (_temp._ Ed. I.,) but I suspect that she as well as Sarrota de Multon, who lived in the former reign, were alterations of some of the derivatives of the Teutonic prefix _Sig_—victory, as the masculine Saher or Serlo certainly came from Sigeheri. Sarah was never commonly used till after the Reformation, when it began to grow very popular, with its contraction Sally; and at the same time it was adopted as the…
Read the full historical passageShow shorter excerpt
Sarah now and then occurs in England, as with Sara Beauchamp, (_temp._ Ed. I.,) but I suspect that she as well as Sarrota de Multon, who lived in the former reign, were alterations of some of the derivatives of the Teutonic prefix _Sig_—victory, as the masculine Saher or Serlo certainly came from Sigeheri. Sarah was never commonly used till after the Reformation, when it began to grow very popular, with its contraction Sally; and at the same time it was adopted as the equivalent for no less than three Irish names—Sadhbh (pronounced Soyv), Sorcha (bright), and Saraid (excellent). The two first are still in use; but Highlanders make a still stranger use of Sarah, which they use to translate their native More (great), perhaps in consequence of its meaning.
Yonge, History of Christian Names (1884), Part I, Chapter II (Patriarchal Names), Section II (Abi) · Public domain (Project Gutenberg)

Notable bearers

People recorded with this given name in Wikidata. Their names may use a different spelling, or include it as a middle or baptismal name.

Sorcha Cusack
born 1949
Irish actress
Wikipedia Wikidata source

A little story to keep

A name worth keeping.

Take the story of Sorcha with you. Create a personal name passport with its meaning, roots and connections.

06 / Behind the facts

Sources for this page

Review status: Source-reported — no editorial review recorded yet. Last data change 2026-10-15.

Name origins & languageDictionaries, name records and related forms7

Wikidata Q64235432CC0-1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Wiktionary: SorchaCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Greek Wiktionary: SorchaCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
French Wiktionary: SorchaCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Polish Wiktionary: SorchaCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Russian Wiktionary: SorchaCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Turkish Wiktionary: SorchaCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14

Historical referencesOriginal texts and their publication details1

Yonge, History of Christian Names (1884), Part I, Chapter II (Patriarchal Names), Section II (Abi)Public domain (Project Gutenberg) · rev. 2023-03-30 · retrieved 2026-10-14

Statistics and surveysPublishers, dataset licences and retrieval dates7

Ireland — babies' first names with three or more occurrences, 1964–2025
Central Statistics Office (CSO), Ireland · CC-BY-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
SSA national baby names, 1880–2025 (CC0 redistribution)
US Social Security Administration; redistributed by nkrishnaswami · CC0-1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
National Records of Scotland — Babies' First Names: all first forenames given to 3 or more babies, Scotland, 1974-2025
National Records of Scotland (NRS) · OGL-UK-3.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
NISRA — First Forenames Given to Babies Registered in Northern Ireland, 1997-2025 (full list)
Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) · OGL-UK-3.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Fichier des prénoms — édition 2026 (naissances 1900 à 2025), fichier national
Insee (Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques) · LO-2.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
South Australia — Popular Baby Names, per-year lists including names given once, 1944-2017
Attorney-General's Department, South Australia (via data.sa.gov.au) · CC-BY-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Baby names in England and Wales: 2025 (boys and girls workbooks, Table 6: all published names)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) · OGL-UK-3.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14

Wiktionary text: CC BY-SA 4.0. Wikidata: CC0. Commons recordings retain their individual file licences. Complete attribution is available in each group above and alongside each chart.

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About Sorcha

Sorcha is a feminine given name documented in English, Irish, Scottish Gaelic and 1 other language. English Wiktionary records the meaning “light, radiant”.

2 source accounts

Irish origin

Source-reported

Meaning: “light, radiant”

Borrowed from Irish and Scottish Gaelic Sorcha (literally “light, radiant”).

Sources for this account (6)

Wiktionary: SorchaCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Greek Wiktionary: SorchaCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
French Wiktionary: SorchaCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Polish Wiktionary: SorchaCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Russian Wiktionary: SorchaCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Turkish Wiktionary: SorchaCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14

Explore 1 more accountHide additional accountsSource accounts may describe the same origin.

Polish Wiktionary accountSource-reportedgael.

gael.

Sources for this account (1)

Polish Wiktionary: SorchaCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14

Documented usage

View usage notes (5)

Feminine usage · Wikidata Q64235432
Feminine usage in English · Wiktionary: Sorcha
Feminine usage in Irish · Wiktionary: Sorcha
Feminine usage in Scottish Gaelic · Wiktionary: Sorcha
Feminine usage in Scots · Wiktionary: Sorcha

Explore all 4 language contexts

Linguistic usage labels come from name dictionaries. They are separate from the sex categories recorded in statistical files.

Spelling and script

Written form “Sorcha” in the Latin script. Wikidata item Q64235432.

All pronunciation details (12)

/ˈsɝkə/ — English
/ˈsɔːɹkə/ — English
/ˈsɔːɹʃə/ — English
/\ˈsɔːɹkə\/ — English
/\ˈsɔːɹʃə\/ — English
/\ˈsɝkə\/ — English
/ˈsɔɾˠəxə/ — Irish
/\ˈsɔɾˠəxə\/ — Irish
/ˈsˠɔɾˠəxə/ — Irish
/ˈs̪ɔɾaxə/ — Scottish Gaelic (Uist)
/ˈsorxə/ — Scots
/ˈsorxə/ — Scots

Where Sorcha is used

Explore published naming statistics and documented language connections around the world.

The name atlas

Across borders

countries in our sources

Select a country to follow Sorcha’s connections around the world.

5 countries with published statistics. Language records show cultural connections; they do not measure how common a name is.

Selected country

United States

Statistics + language records

United States, 2025: 7 girls (rank 11932). Documented as a given name in English.

Explore United States

4 of 11 countries

Popularity over time

Follow the spelling through the years, one published dataset at a time.

Ireland

1964–2025 Spelling: Sorcha

Region and dataset

Recorded category girls

Latest · 2025: 15; births; Rank #273
Peak year: 1997; 71 births

Hover to explore a year. Use arrow keys when a chart point has focus.

Source: Central Statistics Office · Ireland — babies' first names with three or more occurrences, 1964–2025

Published integer counts retained without rounding.

Per million is unavailable: this source has no matching published total.

Show the data table

Sorcha in Ireland, girls: births and rank by year
Year	Births	Rank	Status
1964	no value	no value	not covered
1965	no value	no value	not covered
1966	no value	no value	not covered
1967	no value	no value	not covered
1968	4	357	observed
1969	7	303	observed
1970	5	363	observed
1971	13	250	observed
1972	13	259	observed
1973	23	215	observed
1974	30	190	observed
1975	26	195	observed
1976	24	209	observed
1977	37	166	observed
1978	35	180	observed
1979	25	210	observed
1980	48	150	observed
1981	25	212	observed
1982	29	190	observed
1983	29	185	observed
1984	14	267	observed
1985	34	162	observed
1986	49	119	observed
1987	37	146	observed
1988	33	153	observed
1989	31	158	observed
1990	51	115	observed
1991	43	124	observed
1992	58	101	observed
1993	53	107	observed
1994	59	99	observed
1995	61	91	observed
1996	64	80	observed
1997	71	76	observed
1998	48	78	observed
1999	61	74	observed
2000	59	80	observed
2001	44	110	observed
2002	47	107	observed
2003	59	88	observed
2004	42	118	observed
2005	38	131	observed
2006	54	104	observed
2007	49	121	observed
2008	41	148	observed
2009	43	143	observed
2010	38	164	observed
2011	34	170	observed
2012	36	164	observed
2013	20	254	observed
2014	29	184	observed
2015	22	233	observed
2016	18	254	observed
2017	14	316	observed
2018	11	387	observed
2019	15	296	observed
2020	16	264	observed
2021	5	661	observed
2022	18	237	observed
2023	9	404	observed
2024	15	275	observed
2025	15	273	observed

About this dataset and its counting rules

Rates per million are unavailable for this series because no compatible denominator has been imported.

Universe: First given names on Irish birth registrations; CSO tables VSA50 (boys) and VSA60 (girls). From 2017, births registered during the calendar year.
Rounding: Published integer counts retained without rounding.
Suppression: CSO publishes names with three or more occurrences. Null cells are not emitted; absence is unknown, not zero.
Ranking: Published ranks from VSA50C02 and VSA60C02 retained unchanged, including ties.

Retrieved 2026-10-15 · CC-BY-4.0

Read our methodology

History

Historical scholarship

Passages quoted verbatim from public-domain reference works. They reflect the scholarship of their time, not current consensus, and may use obsolete spellings.

1884From the archives
SORCHA— “bright”
Sarah now and then occurs in England, as with Sara Beauchamp, (_temp._ Ed. I.,) but I suspect that she as well as Sarrota de Multon, who lived in the former reign, were alterations of some of the derivatives of the Teutonic prefix _Sig_—victory, as the masculine Saher or Serlo certainly came from Sigeheri. Sarah was never commonly used till after the Reformation, when it began to grow very popular, with its contraction Sally; and at the same time it was adopted as the…
Read the full historical passageShow shorter excerpt
Sarah now and then occurs in England, as with Sara Beauchamp, (_temp._ Ed. I.,) but I suspect that she as well as Sarrota de Multon, who lived in the former reign, were alterations of some of the derivatives of the Teutonic prefix _Sig_—victory, as the masculine Saher or Serlo certainly came from Sigeheri. Sarah was never commonly used till after the Reformation, when it began to grow very popular, with its contraction Sally; and at the same time it was adopted as the equivalent for no less than three Irish names—Sadhbh (pronounced Soyv), Sorcha (bright), and Saraid (excellent). The two first are still in use; but Highlanders make a still stranger use of Sarah, which they use to translate their native More (great), perhaps in consequence of its meaning.
Yonge, History of Christian Names (1884), Part I, Chapter II (Patriarchal Names), Section II (Abi) · Public domain (Project Gutenberg)

Notable bearers

People recorded with this given name in Wikidata. Their names may use a different spelling, or include it as a middle or baptismal name.

Sorcha Cusack
born 1949
Irish actress
Wikipedia Wikidata source

Sources for this page

Review status: Source-reported — no editorial review recorded yet. Last data change 2026-10-15.

Name origins & languageDictionaries, name records and related forms7

Wikidata Q64235432CC0-1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Wiktionary: SorchaCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Greek Wiktionary: SorchaCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
French Wiktionary: SorchaCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Polish Wiktionary: SorchaCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Russian Wiktionary: SorchaCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Turkish Wiktionary: SorchaCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14

Historical referencesOriginal texts and their publication details1

Yonge, History of Christian Names (1884), Part I, Chapter II (Patriarchal Names), Section II (Abi)Public domain (Project Gutenberg) · rev. 2023-03-30 · retrieved 2026-10-14

Statistics and surveysPublishers, dataset licences and retrieval dates7

Ireland — babies' first names with three or more occurrences, 1964–2025
Central Statistics Office (CSO), Ireland · CC-BY-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
SSA national baby names, 1880–2025 (CC0 redistribution)
US Social Security Administration; redistributed by nkrishnaswami · CC0-1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
National Records of Scotland — Babies' First Names: all first forenames given to 3 or more babies, Scotland, 1974-2025
National Records of Scotland (NRS) · OGL-UK-3.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
NISRA — First Forenames Given to Babies Registered in Northern Ireland, 1997-2025 (full list)
Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) · OGL-UK-3.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Fichier des prénoms — édition 2026 (naissances 1900 à 2025), fichier national
Insee (Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques) · LO-2.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
South Australia — Popular Baby Names, per-year lists including names given once, 1944-2017
Attorney-General's Department, South Australia (via data.sa.gov.au) · CC-BY-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Baby names in England and Wales: 2025 (boys and girls workbooks, Table 6: all published names)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) · OGL-UK-3.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14

Wiktionary text: CC BY-SA 4.0. Wikidata: CC0. Commons recordings retain their individual file licences. Complete attribution is available in each group above and alongside each chart.

A story to pass on.

About Sorcha

Irish origin

Where Sorcha is used

Across borders

United States

Popularity over time

Ireland

History

Historical scholarship

Notable bearers

Sorcha Cusack

Related names

Different forms. Shared stories.

Meet the family

A name worth keeping.

Sources for this page

A story to pass on.

About Sorcha

Irish origin

Where Sorcha is used

Across borders

United States

Popularity over time

Ireland

History

Historical scholarship

Notable bearers

Sorcha Cusack

Related names

Different forms. Shared stories.

Meet the family

A name worth keeping.

Sources for this page