Zara

What Zara means

Means “flower”

A 20th-century variant of Sarah, or explained as Arabic زَهْرَة (zahra, “flower”); given to the daughter of Princess Anne in 1981.

Source: Wiktionary, “Zara” (revision 94545028), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Zara?

US: Rising: up from #401 in 2015. England & Wales: Steady: #72 in 2015, #73 now.

Biggest US share so far: 2025, when 1,432 girls got the name (#212 that year). First in the US records in 1896.

How common

• About 1 in 1,122 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 405 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 252 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in DC (3.96 per 1,000 girls), ND (3.33 per 1,000 girls), AK (3.02 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Zara is #212 in the US and #73 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Zara were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

Other spellings

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Sarah2,710 US · 371 E&W
• Sara1,568 US · 427 E&W
• Zuri932 US · 61 E&W
• Zahra562 US · 418 E&W
• Sarai733 US · 20 E&W
• Zora264 US · 20 E&W
• Zaira224 US · 49 E&W
• Zarah151 US · 42 E&W

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

Spelling variants on Wiktionary

• Zarah

Listed as alternative forms on Wiktionary.

If you like Zara

Girls

• Luna#27“the moon”^*
• Lucille#237Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1920, with 7,989 babies; 1,314 in 2025
• Penelope#22possibly “duck”^*
• Emilia#45Variant of Emily, meaning “rival, emulator”^*
• Aurora#15Italian, from Latin Aurōra, meaning “dawn, sunrise”^*
• Eliza#115Editor’s note Up from #175 in 2015 to #115 in 2025 in the US

For a brother

• Ezekiel#61“God strengthens”^*
• Matthias#372From Biblical Hebrew, meaning “gift of Yahweh”^*
• Roman#42Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #102 in 2015, #42 in 2025
• Eden#544possibly “steppe, garden”^*
• Amir#105“commander, prince”^*
• Asher#28Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #28 vs #150 in 2025

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Arabic, Greek, Hebrew, Latin, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Zara’s. Rank is US 2025.