Zuly
A unisex name of uncertain origin, possibly derived from Spanish words.
Name Census estimates that about 493 living Americans carry the first name Zuly. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Zuly today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zuly births was 2009 (48 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zuly. 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
493
~ 1 in 695,242 Americans
Peak year
2009
48 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,516
Tracked since 1986
Census
Zuly in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 777 people with the first name Zuly, which placed it at #14,953 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
#14,953
National first-name rank
People counted
777
777 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
97.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Zuly
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zuly is Hispanic at 97.4%. The next largest groups are White (1.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.6%). 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 Zuly 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 Zuly at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino97.4% · 757
- White1.4% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 5
- Black or African American0.5% · 4
Popularity
Zuly: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zuly from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 183 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Zuly remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zuly 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 Zuly during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Zulys live
Origin
Meaning and history of Zuly
The given name Zuly has its origins in the Arabic language and culture. It is derived from the Arabic word "zuliya," which means "companion" or "friend." This name gained popularity during the medieval period in the Middle East and North Africa.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Zuly can be found in a 12th-century manuscript from Baghdad. The manuscript mentions a scholar named Zuly ibn Abdallah, who was renowned for his expertise in Islamic jurisprudence and literature.
In the 13th century, the name Zuly appeared in the writings of the famous Persian poet Rumi. In his poetic masterpiece, the Masnavi, Rumi refers to a character named Zuly, who represents the concept of friendship and loyalty.
During the Ottoman Empire, the name Zuly gained popularity among the ruling elite. One notable figure bearing this name was Zuly Pasha, a high-ranking Ottoman military commander who served in the 16th century. He played a pivotal role in the conquest of Rhodes and other territories in the Mediterranean.
Another historical figure with the name Zuly was Zuly al-Din, a prominent Islamic scholar and jurist who lived in Damascus during the 14th century. He was widely respected for his contributions to the study of Islamic law and theology.
In the realm of literature, the name Zuly is mentioned in the famous Persian epic poem, the Shahnameh, written by Ferdowsi in the 10th century. One of the characters in the poem bears the name Zuly, although little is known about their historical significance.
Over the centuries, the name Zuly has been used across various regions and cultures influenced by the Arabic language and Islamic traditions. While its popularity may have waxed and waned, it has maintained a presence as a reminder of its rich historical and cultural roots.
People
Zuly + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zuly 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
Zuly: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zuly?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 493 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zuly 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 695,242 US residents.
Is Zuly a common name?
We classify Zuly as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 500 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zuly most popular?
The single biggest year for Zuly was 2009, when 48 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zuly is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Zuly in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 777 people with the name Zuly, or 0.26 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,953 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 Zuly 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 Zuly?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Zuly appears almost entirely female. Of the 781 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Zuly?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zuly is Hispanic at 97.4%. The next largest groups are White (1.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.6%). 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 Zuly most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Zuly in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.4% (757 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 Zuly in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zuly a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zuly 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 Zuly still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zuly 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 Zuly 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 Zuly as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.