Zaragoza
A name derived from the Spanish city Zaragoza, meaning "sacred town."
Name Census estimates that about 9 living Americans carry the first name Zaragoza. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Zaragoza today is around 81 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zaragoza births was 1915 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zaragoza. 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
- • The typical person named Zaragoza is about 81 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Zaragozas were born before 1955.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Zaragoza. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
9
~ 1 in 38,083,815 Americans
Peak year
1915
12 babies that year
Average age
81
years old
1956 SSA rank
#3,941
Tracked since 1913
Census
Zaragoza in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 162 people with the first name Zaragoza, which placed it at #43,512 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
#43,512
National first-name rank
People counted
162
162 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
98.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Zaragoza
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zaragoza is Hispanic at 98.1%. The next largest groups are White (1.9%). 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 Zaragoza 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 Zaragoza at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino98.1% · 159
- White1.9% · 3
Popularity
Zaragoza: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zaragoza from the 1910s through to the 1950s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 26 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zaragoza 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 Zaragoza during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Zaragozas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Zaragoza
The name Zaragoza is believed to have originated from the Basque region of Spain and France, tracing its roots back to the ancient Vascones tribe who inhabited the area. The earliest known form of the name was likely "Zaragoza," which is thought to derive from the combination of the Basque words "zar" (old) and "goza" (joy or delight), suggesting a meaning along the lines of "ancient delight" or "ancient joy."
The name has been associated with the city of Zaragoza, which was known as Caesaraugusta during Roman times. This city played a significant role in the history of the Iberian Peninsula, and it is possible that the name gained popularity due to its association with this important location.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Zaragoza can be found in the medieval Codex Calixtinus, a 12th-century manuscript that contains the first known account of the legend of Santiago de Compostela. In this text, a pilgrim named Zaragoza is mentioned, indicating that the name was in use during that period.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Zaragoza. One of the earliest is Zaragoza de Vizcarra (c. 1510-1584), a Spanish explorer and conquistador who participated in the conquest of Guatemala and founded the city of Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala (now Antigua Guatemala).
Another prominent figure was Zaragoza de Heredia (c. 1565-1627), a Spanish writer and poet who was part of the literary circle known as the Argensola School. Her works included religious poetry and plays.
In the 19th century, Zaragoza Arteaga (1835-1910) was a Mexican general who played a crucial role in the Mexican Revolution, fighting alongside Emiliano Zapata and Francisco Villa.
More recently, Zaragoza Fernández (1912-1995) was a Mexican artist and sculptor known for her works in bronze and stone, often depicting indigenous themes and subjects.
Zaragoza García (1954-2022) was a Mexican politician and activist who served as the governor of Chihuahua from 2004 to 2010 and was renowned for her efforts to combat corruption and promote human rights.
While the name Zaragoza has its roots in the Basque region, it has been adopted and used in various Spanish-speaking countries, particularly in Mexico, where it has gained significant popularity over the centuries.
People
Zaragoza + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zaragoza 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
Zaragoza: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zaragoza?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 9 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zaragoza 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 38,083,815 US residents.
Is Zaragoza a common name?
We classify Zaragoza as "Very Rare". It ranks above 25.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 60 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zaragoza most popular?
The single biggest year for Zaragoza was 1915, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zaragoza is about 81 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Zaragoza in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 162 people with the name Zaragoza, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #43,512 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 Zaragoza 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 Zaragoza?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Zaragoza leans strongly male. 142 people counted with this name were male (87.1%), compared with 21 female bearers (12.9%). 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 Zaragoza?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zaragoza is Hispanic at 98.1%. The next largest groups are White (1.9%). 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 Zaragoza most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Zaragoza in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.1% (159 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 Zaragoza in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zaragoza a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zaragoza 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 Zaragoza still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zaragoza 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 Zaragoza 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 named Zaragoza?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Zaragoza, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.