Zakirah
An Arabic feminine name meaning "she who remembers" or "she who commemorates".
Name Census estimates that about 232 living Americans carry the first name Zakirah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Zakirah today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zakirah births was 2011 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zakirah. 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 Zakirah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
232
~ 1 in 1,477,389 Americans
Peak year
2011
19 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2023 SSA rank
#17,537
Tracked since 1995
Census
Zakirah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 170 people with the first name Zakirah, which placed it at #42,346 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
#42,346
National first-name rank
People counted
170
170 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
81.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Zakirah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zakirah is Black at 81.2%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (7.1%) and Two or More Races (5.9%). 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 Zakirah 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 Zakirah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American81.2% · 138
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.1% · 12
- Two or more races5.9% · 10
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.4% · 4
- White0.6% · 1
Popularity
Zakirah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zakirah from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 104 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zakirah 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 Zakirah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Zakirah
The name Zakirah has its origins in the Arabic language and is derived from the word "zakir," which means "one who remembers" or "one who commemorates." It is a feminine form of the name and is often associated with the concept of remembrance and recollection.
The earliest recorded use of the name Zakirah can be traced back to the 7th century, during the time of the Islamic golden age. It was a popular name among Arab Muslims, who believed in the importance of remembering and honoring the teachings of the Quran and the Prophet Muhammad.
One of the earliest known historical figures with the name Zakirah was Zakirah bint Amir, a renowned scholar and poet who lived in the 8th century. She was renowned for her expertise in Arabic literature and her contributions to the development of the Arabic language.
Another notable figure with the name Zakirah was Zakirah al-Baghdadi, a prominent Sufi mystic and scholar who lived in the 12th century. She was known for her deep spiritual insights and her teachings on the mystical aspects of Islam.
In the 13th century, Zakirah bint al-Muhadhdhib, a renowned calligrapher and artist, gained recognition for her exceptional skills in calligraphy and illumination of manuscripts. Her works were highly prized and sought after by collectors and patrons of the arts.
During the 16th century, Zakirah al-Ansari was a prominent figure in the Ottoman Empire. She was a respected scholar and educator who established several schools and educational institutions, promoting the pursuit of knowledge and education among women.
In more recent history, Zakirah Karahmet was a celebrated Bosnian author and poet who lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Her works explored themes of national identity, cultural heritage, and the struggles of her people during the turbulent times of the Balkan region.
These are just a few examples of the rich history and significance associated with the name Zakirah, which has been carried by notable figures throughout various eras and cultures, reflecting its timeless appeal and profound meaning rooted in the concept of remembrance and commemoration.
People
Zakirah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zakirah 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
Zakirah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zakirah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 232 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zakirah 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 1,477,389 US residents.
Is Zakirah a common name?
We classify Zakirah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 235 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zakirah most popular?
The single biggest year for Zakirah was 2011, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zakirah is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Zakirah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 170 people with the name Zakirah, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #42,346 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 Zakirah 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 Zakirah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Zakirah appears almost entirely female. Of the 174 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Zakirah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zakirah is Black at 81.2%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (7.1%) and Two or More Races (5.9%). 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 Zakirah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Zakirah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.2% (138 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 Zakirah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zakirah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zakirah in the SSA data are female. 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 Zakirah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zakirah 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 Zakirah 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 have Zakirah as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.