Zenobia
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Meaning
of uncertain precise root, traditionally linked to "az-zainab"; famously borne by Queen Zenobia of Palmyra, who challenged Rome's control of the East
The story
Zenobia is a name with sand and empire in it: its precise root is uncertain, though tradition connects it to the same Semitic source that gives Zainab. What is not uncertain is its bearer: Zenobia, the third-century queen of Palmyra, the caravan city in the Syrian desert, who ruled for her young son after her husband's assassination, swept her armies into Egypt and Asia Minor, and carved a brief independent empire out of Rome's eastern provinces before the emperor Aurelian defeated her; in the old accounts she was carried to Rome and paraded in chains of gold, and everything after that dissolves into legend. In American records Zenobia has kept a faint, stubborn presence at the very edge of the charts for more than a century, with a flicker of new attention lately. It is a warrior-queen name still waiting to be rediscovered.
How popular is Zenobia around the world?
In the United States, 202 babies were named Zenobia between 2020 and 2025.
Zenobia is on the official records of the United States, Brazil and Spain.
United States
1 in 110,000
In the United States, 202 babies were named Zenobia between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Zenobia peaked in the 2010s.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Brazil
1 in 200,000
At the 2022 census, 917 people in Brazil were named Zenobia, ranked 8,776th, with a median age of 63.
Among people named Zenobia living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1960s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Spain
1 in 310,000
In Spain, 143 residents are named Zenobia, ranked 5,835th among women, with a mean age of 52.7 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Chile
last on record 2008
Zenobia is not on the 2021 record for Chile, where nametree keeps the spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021
England and Wales
last on record 2024
Zenobia is not on the 2025 record for England and Wales, where spellings under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Poland
last on record 2015
Zenobia is not on the 2025 record for Poland, where names given fewer than 2 times in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)
South Australia
last on record 1994
Zenobia is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Not on the record in Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and Scotland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Austria record for 1984 to 2025: Statistik Austria publishes every first name down to a single birth, so this name was not given there in those years (before 2010 the record covers babies with Austrian citizenship only). Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
Keep exploring
Names of generals and commanders · Names of kings and queens
The Zenobia deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Zenobia 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 Zenobia fits with your family’s names and surname.
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