Zanaya
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "beauty, grace, or elegance".
Name Census estimates that about 665 living Americans carry the first name Zanaya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Zanaya today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zanaya births was 2001 (43 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zanaya. 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
665
~ 1 in 515,420 Americans
Peak year
2001
43 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,416
Tracked since 1996
Popularity
Zanaya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zanaya 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 313 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Zanaya remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zanaya 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 Zanaya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Zanayas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. New York, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Zanaya, while New Jersey, Georgia, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 16 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Zanaya
The name Zanaya is a relatively modern invention, likely originating in the late 20th or early 21st century. Its origins are unclear, but it appears to be a blend of the Arabic name Zaina, meaning "beautiful," and the English word "maya," which can mean "illusion" or "magic." It is possible that the name was created by combining these elements to suggest a sense of beauty and mystique.
While there are no known historical references or famous individuals from earlier eras with this name, it has gained some popularity in recent decades. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Zanaya was Zanaya Ramirez, an American actress born in 1992. She has appeared in various television shows and films, including "The Fosters" and "Bunk'd."
Another notable Zanaya is Zanaya Clemente, a Puerto Rican fashion model and social media influencer born in 1997. She has worked with various brands and has a significant following on platforms like Instagram.
Zanaya Singh is an Indian-American actress and dancer, born in 2001. She has appeared in several television shows and films, including "The Night Shift" and "Alexa & Katie."
Zanaya Hyndman is a Canadian actress and dancer, born in 2005. She is best known for her role as Maya in the television series "The Next Step."
Zanaya Faure is a South African actress and model, born in 2002. She has appeared in various television shows and commercials in South Africa.
While the name Zanaya is relatively new and lacks a deep historical lineage, its combination of elements from different languages and cultures has likely contributed to its increasing popularity in recent years.
People
Zanaya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zanaya 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
Zanaya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zanaya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 665 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zanaya 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 515,420 US residents.
Is Zanaya a common name?
We classify Zanaya as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 673 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zanaya most popular?
The single biggest year for Zanaya was 2001, when 43 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zanaya is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Zanaya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zanaya 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.
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.