Zuri
Meaning
Swahili, "beautiful"
The story
Zuri is Swahili for beautiful, and its American record shows the patient build of a name carried by community before fashion found it: about 100 in the 1970s, then 250, 670, 1,400, four decades of steady growth in Black American families drawn to names with African roots. Then the multiplication: about 7,200 in the 2010s, five times over, a decade that put Zuris on a hit children's sitcom and in Wakanda's throne room, and we decline to pick one cause from a crowded field. It stands at 8,000 so far this decade, already past the full 2010s. In our records it goes to girls about 16,800 to 770. The name states its meaning without translation for millions of families and sings it for everyone else: two syllables, open vowels, beauty on the certificate in a language older than the country issuing it.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Zuri peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
189 people · the #26,468 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 1,000,000 · median age 1
The census also counted 143 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Zuri
Most people given the name Zuri 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 Zuri deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Zuri 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 Zuri fits with your family’s names and surname.
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