Zakiya
An Arabic feminine name meaning pure, virtuous, or innocent.
Name Census estimates that about 3,207 living Americans carry the first name Zakiya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Zakiya today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zakiya births was 1997 (129 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zakiya. 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 Zakiya with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
3.2K
~ 1 in 106,877 Americans
Peak year
1997
129 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,874
Tracked since 1972
Census
Zakiya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,621 people with the first name Zakiya, which placed it at #6,184 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
#6,184
National first-name rank
People counted
2.6K
2,621 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
83.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Zakiya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zakiya is Black at 83.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.7%) and White (3.9%). 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 Zakiya 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 Zakiya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American83.6% · 2,191
- Two or more races5.7% · 150
- White3.9% · 101
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 85
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.1% · 81
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 13
Popularity
Zakiya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zakiya from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 928 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zakiya 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 Zakiya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Zakiyas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 20 states and territories. New York, California, Georgia recorded the most babies named Zakiya, while New Jersey, District of Columbia, Missouri recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 72 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Zakiya
The name Zakiya has its origins in the Arabic language and is derived from the word "zakiya," which means "pure," "clean," or "virtuous." This name has been in use in various Arabic-speaking regions for centuries, especially in the Middle East and North Africa.
One of the earliest known references to the name Zakiya can be found in Islamic literature, particularly in the context of describing individuals with exceptional moral character and righteousness. In some texts, the name is associated with qualities such as piety, honesty, and integrity.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Zakiya. One of the earliest recorded examples is Zakiya bint Ibrahim al-Naysaburi (born around 823 CE), a renowned scholar and poet from the Abbasid era. She was highly respected for her knowledge of Arabic literature and her contributions to the field of poetry.
Another prominent individual with the name Zakiya was Zakiya Khanum (1805-1865), an influential woman in the Mughal Empire. She was the wife of Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal emperor of India. Zakiya Khanum played a significant role in the court and was known for her patronage of arts and literature.
In more recent times, Zakiya Daoud (1933-2008) was a Palestinian writer and journalist. She was a pioneering figure in the field of Palestinian literature and was known for her novels and short stories that explored themes of identity, exile, and the Palestinian struggle.
Zakiya Hooker (born 1958) is an American singer and songwriter who has made significant contributions to the blues genre. She is a multiple Blues Music Award winner and has been widely acclaimed for her powerful vocals and her ability to blend traditional blues with contemporary sounds.
Zakiya Rashid (born 1964) is a Kenyan politician and human rights activist. She has been a member of the National Assembly of Kenya and has been actively involved in advocating for women's rights, democracy, and social justice in her country.
These examples illustrate the rich history and cultural significance of the name Zakiya across various regions and time periods. While the name has Arabic roots, it has transcended linguistic and geographic boundaries, being adopted and celebrated by individuals from diverse backgrounds.
People
Zakiya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zakiya 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
Zakiya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zakiya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,207 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zakiya 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 106,877 US residents.
Is Zakiya a common name?
We classify Zakiya as "Rare". It ranks above 95.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,305 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zakiya most popular?
The single biggest year for Zakiya was 1997, when 129 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zakiya is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Zakiya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,621 people with the name Zakiya, or 0.87 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,184 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 Zakiya 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 Zakiya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Zakiya leans strongly female. 2,585 people counted with this name were female (98.8%), compared with 31 male bearers (1.2%). 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 Zakiya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zakiya is Black at 83.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.7%) and White (3.9%). 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 Zakiya most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Zakiya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.6% (2,191 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 Zakiya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zakiya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zakiya 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 Zakiya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zakiya 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 Zakiya 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 Zakiya?
You can see how many people share the name Zakiya on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.