Zariah
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "blooming flower" or "blossoming".
Name Census estimates that about 13,475 living Americans carry the first name Zariah. It sits at #440 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It is a predominantly female name (99.0% of registrations). The average person named Zariah today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zariah births was 2023 (759 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zariah. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Zariah with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Zariah is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 137 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Zariah is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 12 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
13K
~ 1 in 25,436 Americans
Peak year
2023
759 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#440
Tracked since 1992
Census
Zariah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 7,810 people with the first name Zariah, which placed it at #2,916 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
#2,916
National first-name rank
People counted
7.8K
7,810 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
61.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Zariah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zariah is Black at 61.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.8%) and Two or More Races (10.7%). 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 Zariah 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 Zariah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American61.3% · 4,789
- Hispanic or Latino17.8% · 1,393
- Two or more races10.7% · 833
- White8.3% · 651
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 75
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 69
Gender
Gender distribution for Zariah
Zariah leans heavily female at 99.0% of total registrations, but 137 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Zariah as a male name
- Ranked #5,640 in 2024
- 17 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (17 births)
Zariah as a female name
- Ranked #440 in 2024
- 705 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (748 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Zariah leans strongly female. 7,695 people counted with this name were female (98.5%), compared with 115 male bearers (1.5%).
Popularity
Zariah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zariah from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 6,529 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Zariah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zariah 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 Zariah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Zariahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 43 states and territories. Texas, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Zariah, while South Dakota, Rhode Island, Alaska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 288 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Zariah
The name Zariah has its origins in the Arabic language. It is believed to have emerged in the Middle Eastern region during the medieval period, around the 7th or 8th century CE. Zariah is derived from the Arabic root word "zar," which means "to bloom" or "to flourish." This connection suggests that the name may have been associated with concepts of growth, vitality, and prosperity.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Zariah can be found in the writings of medieval Arab scholars and poets. It is mentioned in several literary works from that era, indicating its use among certain communities within the Islamic world.
In terms of historical references, there are no significant figures or events directly linked to the name Zariah in ancient texts or religious scriptures. However, its Arabic origins and meaning may have resonated with the cultural and linguistic traditions of the time.
The first recorded person with the name Zariah was a 9th-century Arab poet and scholar from Baghdad, known as Zariah ibn Abi al-Hubab al-Baghdadi (born around 820 CE, died around 890 CE). He was renowned for his contributions to Arabic literature and poetry during the Abbasid Caliphate.
Another notable individual bearing the name Zariah was Zariah al-Dimashqi, a 12th-century Arab philosopher and theologian from Damascus (born around 1105 CE, died around 1175 CE). He was known for his works on Islamic philosophy and his commentary on the teachings of the renowned philosopher Avicenna.
In the 14th century, there was a prominent Sufi mystic and poet from Persia named Zariah al-Shirazi (born around 1320 CE, died around 1390 CE). His spiritual writings and poetic works had a significant influence on the Sufi tradition in the region.
Moving forward in history, we find Zariah Bey (born around 1585 CE, died around 1648 CE), a notable Ottoman military commander and statesman who served as the governor of several provinces within the Ottoman Empire during the 17th century.
Lastly, Zariah al-Nabulsi (born around 1640 CE, died around 1720 CE) was a renowned Islamic scholar and jurist from Damascus. He made significant contributions to the field of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) and was widely respected for his knowledge and teachings.
These individuals, spanning different eras and regions, exemplify the historical use and prominence of the name Zariah, particularly within the Arab and Islamic cultural spheres.
People
Zariah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zariah 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
Zariah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zariah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 13,475 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zariah 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 25,436 US residents.
Is Zariah a common name?
We classify Zariah as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 13,599 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zariah most popular?
The single biggest year for Zariah was 2023, when 759 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zariah is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Zariah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 7,810 people with the name Zariah, or 2.59 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,916 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 Zariah 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 Zariah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Zariah leans strongly female. 7,695 people counted with this name were female (98.5%), compared with 115 male bearers (1.5%). 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 Zariah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zariah is Black at 61.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.8%) and Two or More Races (10.7%). 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 Zariah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Zariah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.3% (4,789 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 Zariah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zariah a female name?
Yes, 99.0% of people registered as Zariah 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 Zariah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zariah 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 Zariah 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 have Zariah as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Zariah on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.