Zurii
A feminine name of African origin meaning "beautiful" or "amazing".
Name Census estimates that about 179 living Americans carry the first name Zurii. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Zurii today is around 7 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zurii births was 2021 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zurii. 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
179
~ 1 in 1,914,829 Americans
Peak year
2021
31 babies that year
Average age
7
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,611
Tracked since 2012
Popularity
Zurii: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zurii from the 2010s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 108 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
Zurii 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 Zurii during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Zurii
The name Zurii has its origins in the ancient Sumerian language, one of the earliest known written languages, dating back to around 3500 BCE. It is believed to be derived from the Sumerian word "zur," which means "protection" or "guardian." The Sumerians were a civilization that arose in Mesopotamia, located in modern-day Iraq.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Zurii can be found in cuneiform inscriptions from the ancient city of Uruk, one of the oldest cities in the world. These inscriptions date back to around 2800 BCE and mention a person named Zurii, who is believed to have been a high-ranking official or priest.
In ancient Sumerian mythology, Zurii was also the name of a minor deity associated with protection and fertility. There are references to this deity in some of the earliest known religious texts, such as the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Enuma Elish.
Throughout history, the name Zurii has been borne by several notable individuals. One of the earliest was Zurii of Lagash, a Sumerian ruler who reigned in the city-state of Lagash around 2500 BCE. He is known for his military victories and for commissioning the construction of several important temples and monuments.
Another famous bearer of the name was Zurii the Scribe, an Akkadian scholar who lived during the reign of King Sargon of Akkad in the 24th century BCE. He is credited with compiling one of the earliest known dictionaries and contributing significantly to the development of cuneiform writing.
In the 7th century BCE, there was a Babylonian astronomer named Zurii who made significant contributions to the study of celestial bodies and the development of the calendar. His observations and calculations were instrumental in the advancement of astronomy in the ancient world.
During the Hellenistic period, a Greek philosopher named Zurii of Rhodes lived in the 3rd century BCE. He was a follower of the Stoic school of philosophy and is known for his writings on ethics and logic.
In more recent times, there was an Egyptian archaeologist named Zurii Abdel Qadir, who lived from 1920 to 2005. He was renowned for his excavations and discoveries in the Valley of the Kings, including the tomb of Tutankhamun.
The name Zurii has a rich and ancient history, deeply rooted in the cultures and civilizations of ancient Mesopotamia. Its association with protection, guardianship, and deities has given it a profound and enduring significance throughout the ages.
People
Zurii + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zurii 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
Zurii: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zurii?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 179 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zurii 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 1,914,829 US residents.
Is Zurii a common name?
We classify Zurii as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 180 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zurii most popular?
The single biggest year for Zurii was 2021, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zurii is about 7 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Zurii a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zurii 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.