Zar
A masculine Turkish name meaning "king" or "ruler".
Name Census estimates that about 6 living Americans carry the first name Zar. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Zar today is around 7 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zar births was 2019 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zar. 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 Zar. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
6
~ 1 in 57,125,723 Americans
Peak year
2019
6 babies that year
Average age
7
years old
2019 SSA rank
#12,113
Tracked since 2019
Census
Zar in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 246 people with the first name Zar, which placed it at #33,566 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
#33,566
National first-name rank
People counted
246
246 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
58.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Zar
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zar is Asian/Pacific Islander at 58.9%. The next largest groups are White (16.3%) and Black (10.2%). 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 Zar 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 Zar at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander58.9% · 145
- White16.3% · 40
- Black or African American10.2% · 25
- Two or more races7.3% · 18
- Hispanic or Latino6.9% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 1
Popularity
Zar: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Zar 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 Zar during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 6 | 0 | 6 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Zar
The given name Zar traces its origins back to the Persian language. It is believed to have derived from the Old Persian word "zar" or "zar-e," which means "golden" or "precious." This name has been in use since ancient times in various regions of the Middle East and Central Asia.
In the ancient Persian culture, the name Zar was often associated with royalty, wealth, and prestige. It was a popular choice for naming princes and nobles, reflecting their high social status and the value placed on gold and precious metals in that society.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Zar can be found in the Avesta, the primary collection of sacred texts of Zoroastrianism. It mentions a character called Zar-e Spitama, who is believed to have been a prominent figure in the early years of the Zoroastrian faith.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Zar. One of the most famous was Zar Afarin (born c. 1260), a renowned Persian poet and mathematician who lived during the Ilkhanid period. Her poetic works were highly praised and influential in her time.
Another prominent figure was Zar Guna (c. 1090-1170), an Indian mathematician and astronomer from the Kalinga region (present-day Odisha). He made significant contributions to the field of astronomy and authored several treatises on the subject.
In the religious sphere, Zar Abad (c. 1100-1170) was a revered Sufi mystic and philosopher from Khwarazm (present-day Uzbekistan). He was known for his teachings on spirituality and his influential writings on Sufism.
During the Timurid dynasty in the 15th century, Zar Baksh (c. 1420-1490) was a prominent nobleman and military commander who served under Timur's successors. He played a crucial role in the expansion and consolidation of the Timurid Empire.
In more recent times, Zar Gul (1901-1985) was an Afghan poet and writer who gained recognition for her contributions to the development of modern Afghan literature. Her poetry focused on themes of love, patriotism, and social issues.
People
Zar + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zar 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
Zar: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zar?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zar 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 57,125,723 US residents.
Is Zar a common name?
We classify Zar as "Very Rare". It ranks above 22.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zar most popular?
The single biggest year for Zar was 2019, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zar is about 7 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Zar in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 246 people with the name Zar, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #33,566 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 Zar 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 Zar?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Zar on both sides of the split. Of the 249 people counted with this name, 118 were male (47.4%) and 131 were female (52.6%). 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 Zar?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zar is Asian/Pacific Islander at 58.9%. The next largest groups are White (16.3%) and Black (10.2%). 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 Zar most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Zar in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.9% (145 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 Zar in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zar a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zar in the SSA data are male. 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 Zar still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zar 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 Zar 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 Zar?
You can see how many Americans are named Zar on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.