Zarra
A feminine name of Spanish origin meaning "dawn" or "daybreak".
Name Census estimates that about 122 living Americans carry the first name Zarra. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Zarra today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zarra births was 2020 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zarra. 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 Zarra with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
122
~ 1 in 2,809,462 Americans
Peak year
2020
14 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2024 SSA rank
#15,209
Tracked since 2008
Popularity
Zarra: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zarra from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 63 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Zarra remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zarra 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 Zarra during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Zarra
The name Zarra is believed to have its origins in the Middle Eastern region, particularly in Arabic-speaking cultures. It is derived from the Arabic word "زر" (zarr), which means "button" or "fastener." The name is thought to have been given to individuals who worked as tailors or in the textile industry, possibly as a reference to their profession.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Zarra can be found in historical documents from the 7th century CE, during the early Islamic era. It is mentioned in several Arabic texts and manuscripts from that period, indicating its usage among the Arab population.
In the 12th century, there was a notable figure named Zarra al-Qurashi, who was a renowned Islamic scholar and jurist from Cordoba, Spain. He was highly respected for his expertise in Islamic jurisprudence and contributed significantly to the intellectual discourse of his time.
During the 14th century, a famous poet and writer named Zarra al-Andalusi hailed from the Andalusian region of Spain. Her poetic works, which celebrated the beauty of nature and explored themes of love and spirituality, were highly regarded in literary circles.
In the 16th century, a Moroccan explorer and adventurer named Zarra ibn Battuta embarked on extensive travels across Africa, Asia, and Europe. His detailed accounts of his journeys and encounters with various cultures and civilizations became an invaluable source of information for historians and geographers.
Another notable figure bearing the name Zarra was Zarra al-Fasi, a 17th-century Moroccan scholar and philosopher. He made significant contributions to the fields of logic, metaphysics, and Islamic theology, and his writings continue to be studied and analyzed by scholars to this day.
While the name Zarra may have originated in the Middle East and North Africa, it has also been adopted and used in other cultures and regions over time, reflecting the influence of cultural exchange and migration patterns throughout history.
People
Zarra + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zarra 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
Zarra: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zarra?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 122 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zarra 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 2,809,462 US residents.
Is Zarra a common name?
We classify Zarra as "Very Rare". It ranks above 67.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 123 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zarra most popular?
The single biggest year for Zarra was 2020, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zarra is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Zarra in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zarra a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zarra 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 Zarra still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zarra 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 Zarra 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people share the name Zarra?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.