Zahir
A name of Arabic origin meaning "splendid" or "radiant".
Name Census estimates that about 4,381 living Americans carry the first name Zahir. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Zahir today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zahir births was 2023 (346 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zahir. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Zahir with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Zahir is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 12 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
4.4K
~ 1 in 78,237 Americans
Peak year
2023
346 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#755
Tracked since 1973
Census
Zahir in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,800 people with the first name Zahir, which placed it at #5,909 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#5,909
National first-name rank
People counted
2.8K
2,800 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
46.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Zahir
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zahir is Black at 46.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (26.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (15.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Zahir described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Zahir at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American46.7% · 1,308
- Hispanic or Latino26.6% · 746
- Asian and Pacific Islander15.0% · 421
- White6.2% · 173
- Two or more races5.2% · 145
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 7
Gender
Gender distribution for Zahir
Out of the 4,424 babies given the name Zahir since 1880, 99.8% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Zahir as a male name
- Ranked #755 in 2024
- 339 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (346 births)
Zahir as a female name
- Ranked #15,445 in 2007
- 7 female births in 2007
- Peak: 2007 (7 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Zahir leans strongly male. 2,745 people counted with this name were male (97.8%), compared with 63 female bearers (2.2%).
Popularity
Zahir: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zahir from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,690 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zahir by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Zahir during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Zahirs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 30 states and territories. New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Zahir, while Nevada, Mississippi, Alabama recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 111 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Zahir
The name Zahir is an Arabic word that means "shining," "brilliant," or "radiant." It has its origins in the ancient Semitic languages and can be traced back to the Middle Ages.
The earliest references to the name Zahir can be found in Islamic literature and religious texts, particularly in relation to the 99 names of Allah. In these texts, the name Zahir is used as one of the attributes of God, describing His manifestation and presence in all aspects of creation.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Zahir is Zahir al-Din Muhammad Babur (1483-1530), the founder of the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent. He was a renowned military leader and poet, known for his adventurous spirit and love for nature.
Another notable figure with the name Zahir is Zahir al-Din Muhammad Aurangzeb (1618-1707), the sixth Mughal emperor who ruled over a vast territory in the Indian subcontinent. His reign was marked by strict adherence to Islamic laws and a period of political stability.
In the realm of science, Zahir al-Din al-Baydawi (1286-1321) was a Persian scholar and theologian who made significant contributions to the fields of astronomy and mathematics. His works, particularly on the interpretation of the Qur'an, were widely studied in the medieval Islamic world.
In more recent history, Zahir Shah (1914-2007) was the last king of Afghanistan, ruling from 1933 to 1973. He is remembered for his efforts to modernize the country and promote democratic reforms during his reign.
Another prominent figure with the name Zahir is Zahir Raihan (1935-1972), a Bangladeshi novelist, playwright, and filmmaker. He is considered a pioneer of the Bangladeshi film industry and is renowned for his socially conscious literary works.
While the name Zahir has its roots in the Arabic language and Islamic culture, it has gained popularity across various regions and communities, transcending religious and cultural boundaries. The name's association with brilliance and radiance has made it a favored choice for many parents around the world.
People
Zahir + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zahir as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with Z
Other first names starting with Z with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Zahir: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zahir?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,381 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zahir going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 78,237 US residents.
Is Zahir a common name?
We classify Zahir as "Rare". It ranks above 96.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,424 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zahir most popular?
The single biggest year for Zahir was 2023, when 346 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zahir is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Zahir in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,800 people with the name Zahir, or 0.93 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,909 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Zahir in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Zahir?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Zahir leans strongly male. 2,745 people counted with this name were male (97.8%), compared with 63 female bearers (2.2%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Zahir?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zahir is Black at 46.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (26.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (15.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Zahir most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Zahir in the 2020 Census, accounting for 46.7% (1,308 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Zahir in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zahir a male name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Zahir in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Zahir still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zahir in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Zahir can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Zahir?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.