Zara
Meaning
princess, blooming flower
The story
Zara arrives from three directions at once and makes them all look coordinated. The Arabic reading our records carry is princess, blooming flower, through Zahra; Britain hears its royal family, which has used Zara since 1981; and every shopping street on earth hears the Spanish retailer. The American record idled for a century, under 360 a decade into the 1980s, then compounded: about 700 in the 1990s, 2,500 in the 2000s, 8,400 in the 2010s, and 8,200 so far this decade, closing on the full 2010s total. One figure is absolute: not one recorded boy, ever, 20,900 girls to zero, the Freya-class unanimity. Two crisp syllables that work in Arabic, Urdu, English and Spanish alike: Zara is what international looks like when it fits in four letters.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Zara peaked in the 2020s.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
1,329 people · the #6,839 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 142,857 · median age 19
Among people named Zara living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 336 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Zara
Most people given the name Zara in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Zara deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Zara truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Zara fits with your family’s names and surname.
Where Zara travels
Indian American · flower, princess (common among Indian Muslim American families, spelled for easy crossover)
Keep exploring
Names like Zara · Middle names for Zara · Arabic baby names · Indian American baby names · Short names
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