Zobeida
An Arabic name meaning "brought up in delicate luxury".
Name Census estimates that about 24 living Americans carry the first name Zobeida. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Zobeida today is around 49 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zobeida births was 1969 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zobeida. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Zobeida. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
24
~ 1 in 14,281,431 Americans
Peak year
1969
10 babies that year
Average age
49
years old
1981 SSA rank
#10,409
Tracked since 1969
Census
Zobeida in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 469 people with the first name Zobeida, which placed it at #21,580 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
#21,580
National first-name rank
People counted
469
469 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
96.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Zobeida
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zobeida is Hispanic at 96.6%. The next largest groups are White (3.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.2%). 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 Zobeida 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 Zobeida at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino96.6% · 453
- White3.2% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 1
Popularity
Zobeida: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zobeida from the 1960s through to the 1980s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 11 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zobeida 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 Zobeida during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Zobeidas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Zobeida
The name Zobeida has its origins in the Arabic language. It is a variation of the Arabic name Zubaidah, which was derived from the word "zubaydah" meaning "butter-like" or "butter-colored." This name was popular during the medieval period in the Middle East and North Africa.
Zubaidah was the name of a prominent figure in Islamic history, the wife of the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid, who ruled from 786 to 809 CE. She was known for her intelligence, political influence, and patronage of arts and literature. The name Zobeida likely emerged as a variant of Zubaidah during this time.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Zobeida was Zobeida bint Jafar, a princess of the Abbasid dynasty who lived in the 9th century CE. She was the daughter of the famous caliph Harun al-Rashid and his wife Zubaidah.
In the 12th century, Zobeida was the name of a princess from the Fatimid dynasty, who was known for her beauty and intelligence. She was the daughter of the Fatimid caliph al-Mustansir Billah.
During the Ottoman Empire, the name Zobeida was used by several women from the imperial family. One notable example was Zobeida Sultan, a daughter of Sultan Ahmed III, who lived in the 18th century.
In the 19th century, Zobeida was the name of a famous Egyptian dancer and courtesan who was renowned for her beauty and talent. She was born in 1833 and performed in several European capitals, captivating audiences with her dances.
Another notable figure with the name Zobeida was Zobeida Begum, an Indian princess and poet who lived in the 19th century. She was a member of the Awadh royal family and was known for her literary contributions in Urdu and Persian.
While the name Zobeida has its roots in the Arabic language and Islamic culture, it has been used across different regions and time periods, reflecting the diverse influences and historical connections between various cultures.
People
Zobeida + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zobeida 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
Zobeida: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zobeida?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 24 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zobeida 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 14,281,431 US residents.
Is Zobeida a common name?
We classify Zobeida as "Very Rare". It ranks above 43% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 26 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zobeida most popular?
The single biggest year for Zobeida was 1969, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zobeida is about 49 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Zobeida in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 469 people with the name Zobeida, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,580 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 Zobeida 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 Zobeida?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Zobeida appears almost entirely female. Of the 476 people counted with this name, 99.4% 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 Zobeida?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zobeida is Hispanic at 96.6%. The next largest groups are White (3.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.2%). 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 Zobeida most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Zobeida in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.6% (453 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 Zobeida in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zobeida a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zobeida 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 Zobeida still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zobeida 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 Zobeida 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 have the name Zobeida?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.