Zakiyah
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "pure" or "chaste".
Name Census estimates that about 1,975 living Americans carry the first name Zakiyah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Zakiyah today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zakiyah births was 2008 (108 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zakiyah. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Zakiyah with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Zakiyah is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.0K
~ 1 in 173,547 Americans
Peak year
2008
108 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,564
Tracked since 1976
Census
Zakiyah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,387 people with the first name Zakiyah, which placed it at #9,847 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#9,847
National first-name rank
People counted
1.4K
1,387 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
83.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Zakiyah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zakiyah is Black at 83.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.3%) and White (4.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Zakiyah described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Zakiyah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American83.6% · 1,159
- Two or more races7.3% · 101
- White4.0% · 56
- Hispanic or Latino3.6% · 50
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 7
Gender
Gender distribution for Zakiyah
Out of the 2,002 babies given the name Zakiyah since 1880, 99.7% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Zakiyah as a male name
- Ranked #10,868 in 2024
- 7 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (7 births)
Zakiyah as a female name
- Ranked #3,564 in 2024
- 44 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2008 (108 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Zakiyah leans strongly female. 1,360 people counted with this name were female (97.8%), compared with 30 male bearers (2.2%).
Popularity
Zakiyah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zakiyah from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 753 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Zakiyah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zakiyah 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 Zakiyah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Zakiyahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 19 states and territories. Georgia, North Carolina, Florida recorded the most babies named Zakiyah, while California, Arkansas, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 36 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Zakiyah
The name Zakiyah originates from the Arabic language and is derived from the root word "zaky," which means pure, virtuous, or righteous. It is a feminine name that carries deep spiritual and moral connotations within the Islamic tradition.
The earliest recorded use of the name Zakiyah can be traced back to the 7th century CE, during the time of the Prophet Muhammad and the early Islamic era. It is believed to have been inspired by the Quranic verse (33:35) which describes the qualities of righteous individuals, both men and women, as "zakiyin" (plural of zakiyah).
In Islamic history, one of the most notable figures with the name Zakiyah was Zakiyah bint Amir al-Mu'minin Ali ibn Abi Talib, who lived in the 7th century CE. She was the daughter of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth caliph of Islam and cousin of the Prophet Muhammad, and Fatimah, the daughter of the Prophet.
Another prominent historical figure with the name Zakiyah was Zakiyah al-Baghdadiyah, a renowned female scholar of hadith (prophetic traditions) who lived in Baghdad during the 9th century CE. She was known for her extensive knowledge and her contributions to the preservation and transmission of Islamic teachings.
In the 12th century CE, Zakiyah bint Ibrahim al-Naysaburi was a prominent female scholar and poet from Nishapur, Iran. She was renowned for her expertise in various fields, including literature, theology, and jurisprudence.
During the 14th century CE, Zakiyah bint Ahmad al-Ansari was a prominent Sufi mystic and scholar from Yemen. She was known for her spiritual teachings and her contributions to the development of Sufism in the region.
Another historical figure with the name Zakiyah was Zakiyah al-Kubra, a 16th century Ottoman princess and the daughter of Sultan Selim I. She played an important role in the cultural and intellectual life of the Ottoman Empire during her time.
The name Zakiyah continues to be popular among Muslim communities around the world, carrying the symbolic meaning of purity, righteousness, and virtue, reflecting the rich cultural and religious heritage from which it originated.
People
Zakiyah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zakiyah 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
Zakiyah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zakiyah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,975 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zakiyah 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 173,547 US residents.
Is Zakiyah a common name?
We classify Zakiyah as "Rare". It ranks above 93.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,002 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zakiyah most popular?
The single biggest year for Zakiyah was 2008, when 108 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zakiyah is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Zakiyah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,387 people with the name Zakiyah, or 0.46 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,847 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Zakiyah in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Zakiyah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Zakiyah leans strongly female. 1,360 people counted with this name were female (97.8%), compared with 30 male bearers (2.2%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Zakiyah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zakiyah is Black at 83.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.3%) and White (4.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Zakiyah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Zakiyah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.6% (1,159 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Zakiyah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zakiyah a female name?
Yes, 99.7% of people registered as Zakiyah 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.
Is Zakiyah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zakiyah in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Zakiyah can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many people have Zakiyah as a first name?
See how many people have the name Zakiyah on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.