Zaylah
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "shadow" or "shade".
Name Census estimates that about 799 living Americans carry the first name Zaylah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Zaylah today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zaylah births was 2023 (71 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zaylah. 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.
People living today
799
~ 1 in 428,979 Americans
Peak year
2023
71 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,628
Tracked since 2002
Popularity
Zaylah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zaylah 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 427 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Zaylah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zaylah 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 Zaylah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Zaylahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. California, Texas, Georgia recorded the most babies named Zaylah, while Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 29 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Zaylah
The name Zaylah is a modern variation of the Arabic name Zaylah, which means "shade" or "shadow." This name is believed to have originated in the Middle East, specifically in the region of the Arabian Peninsula, during the Islamic Golden Age, which spanned from the 8th to the 13th centuries.
The name Zaylah is derived from the Arabic root word "zill," which means "shadow" or "shade." It is a feminine name that was likely used to describe a person who provided comfort, protection, or respite, much like the shade of a tree on a hot day.
While the name Zaylah is not found in ancient texts or religious scriptures, its root word "zill" is mentioned in the Quran, the holy book of Islam. The Quran contains references to the importance of shade and shadows, both in a literal and metaphorical sense.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Zaylah can be found in the writings of the 12th-century Arab poet and philosopher, Ibn Arabi. He mentioned a woman named Zaylah in one of his poems, which celebrated her beauty and grace.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Zaylah or variations of it. One such person was Zaylah bint Al-Husayn, a 9th-century Arab poet and scholar who was renowned for her mastery of the Arabic language and her contributions to literature.
Another notable figure was Zaylah Al-Andalusiyyah, a 12th-century Andalusian philosopher and mathematician who made significant contributions to the field of geometry and the study of conic sections.
In the 14th century, there was Zaylah Al-Dimashqiyyah, a Syrian mystic and Sufi scholar who was widely respected for her spiritual teachings and her expertise in Islamic mysticism.
The name Zaylah was also borne by Zaylah Al-Qudsi, a 16th-century Palestinian calligrapher and artist who was renowned for her intricate and beautiful calligraphic works, which adorned many mosques and palaces of the Ottoman Empire.
Finally, Zaylah Al-Baghdadi was a 17th-century Iraqi poet and writer who was celebrated for her eloquent and thought-provoking poetry, which often explored themes of love, spirituality, and the human condition.
While these are just a few examples, the name Zaylah has been carried by many individuals throughout history, each leaving their own unique mark on the world.
People
Zaylah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zaylah 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
Zaylah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zaylah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 799 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zaylah 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 428,979 US residents.
Is Zaylah a common name?
We classify Zaylah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 805 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zaylah most popular?
The single biggest year for Zaylah was 2023, when 71 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zaylah is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Zaylah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zaylah 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.
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.