Zakylah
A feminine Muslim name of Arabic origin meaning "intelligent" or "pure".
Name Census estimates that about 25 living Americans carry the first name Zakylah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Zakylah today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zakylah births was 2013 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zakylah. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Zakylah. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
25
~ 1 in 13,710,174 Americans
Peak year
2013
8 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2023 SSA rank
#13,415
Tracked since 2013
Popularity
Zakylah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zakylah from the 2010s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 13 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
Zakylah 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 Zakylah 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 Zakylah
The name Zakylah has its origins in the Arabic language and Islamic culture. It is a variation of the name Zakariya, which is derived from the Hebrew name Zechariah, meaning "God has remembered" or "remembrance of God." The earliest recorded use of the name Zakylah can be traced back to the 7th century CE, during the spread of Islam across the Middle East and North Africa.
In Islamic tradition, the name Zakariya is mentioned in the Quran as the name of a prophet who was granted a son, Yahya (John the Baptist), in his old age. This biblical story is also found in the Christian tradition, where Zechariah is the father of John the Baptist. The name Zakylah is believed to have emerged as a variation of Zakariya, reflecting the Arabic linguistic influence on the original Hebrew name.
One of the earliest documented individuals with the name Zakylah was Zakylah bint Abi Bakr, a companion of the Prophet Muhammad and the daughter of Abu Bakr, the first Caliph of Islam. She lived in the 7th century CE and is remembered for her devotion to the Islamic faith and her role in preserving the teachings of the Prophet.
In the 11th century CE, Zakylah al-Ansari was a renowned Islamic scholar and poet from Andalusia (modern-day Spain). She was known for her expertise in Arabic literature and her contributions to the literary and intellectual circles of the time. Her poetry and writings have been preserved and studied by scholars throughout the centuries.
Another notable figure with the name Zakylah was Zakylah bint Yahya al-Qurashi, a 13th-century Islamic scholar and jurist from Damascus. She was highly respected for her knowledge of Islamic law and her teachings, which influenced many scholars and students during her lifetime.
In the 15th century, Zakylah al-Baghdadi was an influential Islamic scholar and theologian from Baghdad. She was known for her expertise in the Quranic sciences and her contributions to the field of Islamic jurisprudence. Her writings and teachings were widely studied and cited by scholars of her time.
Over the centuries, the name Zakylah has been carried by individuals from various parts of the Islamic world, including the Middle East, North Africa, and parts of Asia. While its usage may have varied across different regions and time periods, the name has maintained its connection to the Islamic faith and the Arabic linguistic heritage.
People
Zakylah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zakylah 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
Zakylah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zakylah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 25 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zakylah 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 13,710,174 US residents.
Is Zakylah a common name?
We classify Zakylah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 43.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 25 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zakylah most popular?
The single biggest year for Zakylah was 2013, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zakylah is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Zakylah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zakylah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zakylah 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 Zakylah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zakylah 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 Zakylah 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How common is the name Zakylah?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.