Zehra
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "blooming flower".
Name Census estimates that about 692 living Americans carry the first name Zehra. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Zehra today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zehra births was 2013 (33 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zehra. 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 Zehra with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
692
~ 1 in 495,310 Americans
Peak year
2013
33 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,137
Tracked since 1977
Census
Zehra in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,450 people with the first name Zehra, which placed it at #9,542 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
#9,542
National first-name rank
People counted
1.4K
1,450 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
47.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Zehra
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zehra is Asian/Pacific Islander at 47.7%. The next largest groups are White (45.7%) and Two or More Races (3.9%). 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 Zehra 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 Zehra at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander47.7% · 692
- White45.7% · 663
- Two or more races3.9% · 56
- Hispanic or Latino1.7% · 24
- Black or African American1.0% · 15
Popularity
Zehra: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zehra from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 236 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Zehra remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zehra 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 Zehra during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Zehras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. New York, Texas, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Zehra, while California, New Jersey, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 16 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Zehra
The name Zehra is of Arabic origin and is derived from the Arabic word "zahra," which means "flower" or "blossom." It is a feminine name often associated with beauty, grace, and elegance.
The earliest recorded use of the name Zehra can be traced back to the 7th century in the Arabian Peninsula. It gained popularity among Muslim communities due to its connection with Fatimah az-Zahra, the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad and one of the most revered women in Islamic history. Her epithet "az-Zahra" means "the radiant one" or "the resplendent one."
In Islamic literature and poetry, the name Zehra is often used as a metaphor for beauty, purity, and spiritual enlightenment. It is mentioned in various Sufi and mystical texts, symbolizing the divine essence and the manifestation of divine attributes.
One of the earliest historical figures to bear the name Zehra was Zehra Khatun, the wife of the Seljuk Sultan Malik Shah I, who ruled in the late 11th century. She played a significant role in the political and cultural spheres of the Seljuk Empire.
Another notable Zehra was Zehra Begum, the daughter of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, who lived in the 17th century. She was renowned for her patronage of art, architecture, and literature, and her patronage led to the construction of several notable monuments in India.
In the 19th century, Zehra Hayat, a Turkish poet and writer, gained recognition for her contributions to Ottoman literature. She was known for her mastery of classical Turkish poetry and her works that explored themes of love, spirituality, and the human condition.
Zehra Kassim, born in 1914 in Zanzibar, was a prominent political activist and one of the first female members of the Zanzibar Revolutionary Council. She played a crucial role in the struggle for Zanzibar's independence and the promotion of women's rights.
Zehra Fazal, born in 1952 in Pakistan, is a renowned artist and painter. Her work has been exhibited globally, and she is celebrated for her unique style that blends traditional Islamic motifs with contemporary artistic expressions.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Zehra, a name that has carried the essence of beauty, grace, and spiritual enlightenment across various cultures and epochs.
People
Zehra + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zehra 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
Zehra: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zehra?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 692 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zehra 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 495,310 US residents.
Is Zehra a common name?
We classify Zehra as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 705 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zehra most popular?
The single biggest year for Zehra was 2013, when 33 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zehra is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Zehra in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,450 people with the name Zehra, or 0.48 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,542 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 Zehra 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 Zehra?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Zehra appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,449 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Zehra?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zehra is Asian/Pacific Islander at 47.7%. The next largest groups are White (45.7%) and Two or More Races (3.9%). 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 Zehra most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Zehra in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.7% (692 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 Zehra in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zehra a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zehra 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 Zehra still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zehra 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 Zehra 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 Americans are named Zehra?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.