Zarya
A feminine Russian name meaning "dawn" or "sunrise".
Name Census estimates that about 637 living Americans carry the first name Zarya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Zarya today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zarya births was 2022 (42 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zarya. 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 Zarya with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
637
~ 1 in 538,076 Americans
Peak year
2022
42 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,647
Tracked since 1997
Census
Zarya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 415 people with the first name Zarya, which placed it at #23,539 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
#23,539
National first-name rank
People counted
415
415 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
54.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Zarya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zarya is Black at 54.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (15.2%) and White (12.5%). 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 Zarya 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 Zarya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American54.0% · 224
- Hispanic or Latino15.2% · 63
- White12.5% · 52
- Two or more races10.8% · 45
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.5% · 27
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 4
Popularity
Zarya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zarya 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 262 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Zarya remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zarya 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 Zarya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Zaryas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Texas, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Zarya, while Georgia, Florida, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 15 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Zarya
The name Zarya is of Slavic origin and is derived from the Russian word "zarya," which means "dawn" or "daybreak." It is a feminine name that has been used in various Slavic cultures, particularly in Russia and Ukraine.
The earliest recorded use of the name Zarya can be traced back to the 10th century, when it appeared in ancient Slavic folklore and literature. In these early texts, the name was often used to symbolize the arrival of a new day or a fresh start, reflecting the name's meaning.
One of the most notable historical references to the name Zarya is found in the Russian epic poem "The Lay of Igor's Campaign," which dates back to the 12th century. In this literary work, the name is mentioned in the context of a battle, suggesting its association with strength and resilience.
Throughout history, several famous individuals have borne the name Zarya. Zarya Morozova (1633-1707) was a Russian noblewoman and the wife of Boyar Ilya Morozov, who played a significant role in the regency of Tsar Alexis I. Zarya Treshchenkova (1890-1952) was a Russian revolutionary and Bolshevik who actively participated in the October Revolution of 1917.
Another notable figure was Zarya Abdullayeva (1920-2001), an Azerbaijani opera singer who gained international recognition for her performances in the Soviet Union and beyond. Zarya Kliuchnikova (1921-1996) was a Soviet athlete who competed in track and field events, winning multiple medals at the European Championships and the Olympic Games.
In the literary world, Zarya Malen'kaya (1909-1976) was a renowned Russian writer and poet, known for her works celebrating the beauty of nature and the simple joys of life. Her poetry collections, such as "Zarya Voskhoda" (Dawn of the East), reflected the essence of her name.
While the name Zarya has its roots in Slavic cultures, it has also gained popularity in other parts of the world, particularly among those with an appreciation for its symbolic meaning and historical significance.
People
Zarya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zarya 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
Zarya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zarya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 637 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zarya 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 538,076 US residents.
Is Zarya a common name?
We classify Zarya as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 643 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zarya most popular?
The single biggest year for Zarya was 2022, when 42 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zarya is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Zarya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 415 people with the name Zarya, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #23,539 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 Zarya 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 Zarya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Zarya appears almost entirely female. Of the 409 people counted with this name, 99.3% 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 Zarya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zarya is Black at 54.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (15.2%) and White (12.5%). 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 Zarya most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Zarya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.0% (224 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 Zarya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zarya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zarya 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 Zarya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zarya 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 Zarya 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 share the name Zarya?
Want to know how many Americans are named Zarya? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.