Zarina
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "shining" or "golden".
Name Census estimates that about 1,504 living Americans carry the first name Zarina. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Zarina today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zarina births was 2015 (95 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zarina. 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 Zarina with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Zarina is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.5K
~ 1 in 227,895 Americans
Peak year
2015
95 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,340
Tracked since 1966
Census
Zarina in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,474 people with the first name Zarina, which placed it at #6,481 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
#6,481
National first-name rank
People counted
2.5K
2,474 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
45.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Zarina
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zarina is Asian/Pacific Islander at 45.0%. The next largest groups are White (20.1%) and Hispanic (16.5%). 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 Zarina 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 Zarina at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander45.0% · 1,114
- White20.1% · 498
- Hispanic or Latino16.5% · 409
- Two or more races10.7% · 265
- Black or African American7.4% · 182
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 6
Popularity
Zarina: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zarina from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 575 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Zarina remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zarina 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 Zarina during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Zarinas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Zarina, while Washington, New Jersey, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 63 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Zarina
The name Zarina is of Persian origin, deriving from the word "zar" meaning gold or golden. It is believed to have originated in ancient Persia, now known as Iran, during the reign of the Sassanid Empire (226–651 AD). The name was likely used to describe someone with a golden or radiant complexion, or as a term of endearment.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Zarina can be found in the Shahnameh, a renowned Persian epic poem written by the celebrated poet Ferdowsi between 977 and 1010 AD. In this literary masterpiece, Zarina is depicted as a beautiful and virtuous princess.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Zarina. One such figure was Zarina Begum (1638–1700), a Mughal princess and the daughter of the powerful Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. She was known for her patronage of the arts and her influential role in the Mughal court.
Another prominent Zarina was Zarina Huntington (1867–1957), an American philanthropist and socialite. She was instrumental in founding the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California, which houses a vast collection of rare books, manuscripts, and works of art.
In the realm of literature, Zarina Hashmi (1938–2022) was a renowned Pakistani poet and writer. Her works explored themes of love, feminism, and social justice, earning her numerous accolades, including the prestigious Pride of Performance award from the Pakistani government.
Zarina Wahab (born 1959) is an acclaimed Indian actress who has appeared in numerous Bollywood films and television shows. She is particularly known for her roles in the critically acclaimed movies "Chit Chor" and "Lakshmi."
Zarina Screwvala (born 1954) is an Indian businesswoman and philanthropist. She co-founded the Swades Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering rural communities in India through sustainable development initiatives.
The name Zarina has transcended cultural boundaries and continues to be popular across various regions, carrying with it a rich historical legacy and connotations of beauty, radiance, and nobility.
People
Zarina + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zarina 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
Zarina: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zarina?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,504 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zarina 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 227,895 US residents.
Is Zarina a common name?
We classify Zarina as "Rare". It ranks above 92.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,533 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zarina most popular?
The single biggest year for Zarina was 2015, when 95 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zarina is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Zarina in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,474 people with the name Zarina, or 0.82 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,481 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 Zarina 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 Zarina?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Zarina appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,482 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Zarina?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zarina is Asian/Pacific Islander at 45.0%. The next largest groups are White (20.1%) and Hispanic (16.5%). 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 Zarina most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Zarina in the 2020 Census, accounting for 45.0% (1,114 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 Zarina in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zarina a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zarina 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 Zarina still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zarina 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 Zarina 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 the name Zarina?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Zarina, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.