Zitlaly
A feminine Mexican name derived from Nahuatl meaning "star brilliance".
Name Census estimates that about 555 living Americans carry the first name Zitlaly. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Zitlaly today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zitlaly births was 2004 (51 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zitlaly. 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
555
~ 1 in 617,575 Americans
Peak year
2004
51 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2022 SSA rank
#13,570
Tracked since 1993
Census
Zitlaly in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 416 people with the first name Zitlaly, which placed it at #23,505 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
#23,505
National first-name rank
People counted
416
416 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
96.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Zitlaly
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zitlaly is Hispanic at 96.6%. The next largest groups are White (1.9%) and Two or More Races (1.0%). 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 Zitlaly 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 Zitlaly at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino96.6% · 402
- White1.9% · 8
- Two or more races1.0% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 2
Popularity
Zitlaly: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zitlaly from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 379 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zitlaly 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 Zitlaly during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Zitlalys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Zitlaly, while Illinois, Texas, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 68 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Zitlaly
Zitlaly is a given name of Nahuatl origin, the language spoken by the Aztecs and other indigenous groups in Mexico and Central America. The name is believed to have originated in the pre-Columbian era, prior to the arrival of Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century.
The name Zitlaly is derived from the Nahuatl words "Zitlali" meaning "star" and "tzitzilli" meaning "precious stone" or "gem." The combination of these words suggests a meaning of "precious star" or "star-like gem." This reflects the significance of celestial bodies and precious materials in Aztec culture and cosmology.
While there are no definitive records of the name appearing in ancient Aztec codices or historical accounts, its linguistic roots suggest it was likely used as a personal name among the Nahuatl-speaking populations of Mesoamerica before the Spanish conquest.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Zitlaly can be found in the 17th century, when a woman named Zitlaly María de la Cruz was born in Mexico City in 1638. She was a renowned poet and writer of the colonial era, known for her contributions to the literary tradition of the Spanish Golden Age.
Another notable figure with the name Zitlaly was Zitlaly Frías (1908-1989), a Mexican artist and painter renowned for her vibrant depictions of indigenous life and culture. Her works often featured traditional Nahuatl motifs and symbolism, reflecting her appreciation for her ancestral roots.
In the realm of music, Zitlaly Mijangos (1949-2022) was a celebrated Mexican singer and songwriter. She was known for her powerful voice and her contributions to the preservation and promotion of traditional Mexican folk music.
Zitlaly Vallejo (born 1979) is a contemporary Mexican writer and journalist who has received critical acclaim for her novels and short stories exploring themes of identity, feminism, and sociopolitical issues in modern Mexico.
Zitlaly Chávez (born 1985) is a Mexican-American activist and community organizer who has been at the forefront of immigrant rights movements in the United States, advocating for the rights and dignity of undocumented individuals and families.
People
Zitlaly + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zitlaly 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
Zitlaly: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zitlaly?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 555 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zitlaly 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 617,575 US residents.
Is Zitlaly a common name?
We classify Zitlaly as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 564 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zitlaly most popular?
The single biggest year for Zitlaly was 2004, when 51 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zitlaly is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Zitlaly in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 416 people with the name Zitlaly, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #23,505 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 Zitlaly 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 Zitlaly?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Zitlaly appears almost entirely female. Of the 415 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 Zitlaly?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zitlaly is Hispanic at 96.6%. The next largest groups are White (1.9%) and Two or More Races (1.0%). 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 Zitlaly most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Zitlaly in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.6% (402 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 Zitlaly in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zitlaly a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zitlaly 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 Zitlaly still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zitlaly 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 Zitlaly 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 are named Zitlaly?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Zitlaly at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.