Zakya
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "intelligent" or "pure".
Name Census estimates that about 197 living Americans carry the first name Zakya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Zakya today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zakya births was 2006 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zakya. 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.
People living today
197
~ 1 in 1,739,870 Americans
Peak year
2006
17 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,393
Tracked since 1998
Census
Zakya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 196 people with the first name Zakya, which placed it at #38,869 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
#38,869
National first-name rank
People counted
196
196 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
71.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Zakya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zakya is Black at 71.4%. The next largest groups are White (14.3%) and Two or More Races (5.6%). 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 Zakya 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 Zakya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American71.4% · 140
- White14.3% · 28
- Two or more races5.6% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.1% · 10
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 1
Popularity
Zakya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zakya from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 115 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
Zakya 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 Zakya 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 Zakya
The name Zakya finds its origins in the Arabic language, with roots tracing back to the 7th century and the rise of Islam in the Middle East. It is derived from the Arabic word "zakah," which means "purification" or "almsgiving." The name was likely bestowed upon individuals with the intention of imbuing them with the virtues of spiritual cleanliness and charitable acts.
In the early centuries of Islamic history, the name Zakya appeared in various texts and records. One notable mention can be found in the works of the renowned Islamic scholar and philosopher, Al-Ghazali (1058-1111 CE), who discussed the concept of "zakah" extensively in his writings on Islamic jurisprudence and ethics.
The earliest recorded individual bearing the name Zakya is Zakya bint Ibrahim al-Naqib (1145-1216 CE), a renowned scholar and poet from Baghdad. Her contributions to Arabic literature and her mastery of various poetic forms earned her widespread acclaim during her lifetime.
Another notable figure was Zakya Khanum (1805-1865), a prominent member of the Qajar royal family in Persia (modern-day Iran). She played a significant role in the court of her brother, Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, and was renowned for her patronage of the arts and literature.
In the 20th century, Zakya Haddad (1905-1976) was a pioneering Lebanese author and journalist. She was one of the first women in the Arab world to write novels and short stories that explored themes of gender equality and social reform. Her works, such as "The Sleepwalker" and "The Fugitive," were instrumental in shaping the modern Arabic literary canon.
Zakya Dawood (1923-2014) was a prominent Pakistani author and translator, best known for her English translation of the Quran, which was widely acclaimed for its accuracy and literary merit. Her translation remains one of the most widely read English versions of the Islamic holy book.
Zakya Kafafi (1925-2013) was an Egyptian biochemist and academic who made significant contributions to the field of enzyme research. She was the first woman to be appointed as a full professor at Cairo University and served as the president of the Egyptian National Research Centre.
These individuals, spanning various eras and regions, have left an indelible mark on history through their contributions to literature, arts, religion, and academia, carrying the name Zakya with dignity and distinction.
People
Zakya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zakya 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
Zakya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zakya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 197 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zakya 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 1,739,870 US residents.
Is Zakya a common name?
We classify Zakya as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 199 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zakya most popular?
The single biggest year for Zakya was 2006, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zakya is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Zakya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 196 people with the name Zakya, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #38,869 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 Zakya 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 Zakya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Zakya leans strongly female. 191 people counted with this name were female (97.9%), compared with 4 male bearers (2.1%). 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 Zakya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zakya is Black at 71.4%. The next largest groups are White (14.3%) and Two or More Races (5.6%). 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 Zakya most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Zakya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 71.4% (140 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 Zakya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zakya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zakya 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 Zakya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zakya 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 Zakya 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 share the name Zakya?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.