Zarinah
A feminine Arabic name meaning "golden" or "rich blond-haired woman".
Name Census estimates that about 178 living Americans carry the first name Zarinah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Zarinah today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zarinah births was 1978 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zarinah. 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.
People living today
178
~ 1 in 1,925,586 Americans
Peak year
1978
17 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2022 SSA rank
#17,707
Tracked since 1976
Census
Zarinah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 190 people with the first name Zarinah, which placed it at #39,614 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
#39,614
National first-name rank
People counted
190
190 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
74.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Zarinah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zarinah is Black at 74.7%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (7.9%) and Hispanic (6.8%). 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 Zarinah 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 Zarinah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American74.7% · 142
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.9% · 15
- Hispanic or Latino6.8% · 13
- White5.8% · 11
- Two or more races4.7% · 9
Popularity
Zarinah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zarinah from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 86 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zarinah 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 Zarinah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Zarinah
The name Zarinah has its origins in the Persian language, where it is derived from the word "zar," meaning gold or golden. This name is believed to have emerged during the height of the Persian Empire, which spanned from the 6th century BCE to the 7th century CE.
In ancient Persian culture, gold was revered as a symbol of wealth, prosperity, and beauty. The name Zarinah was likely bestowed upon young girls with the hope that they would embody these qualities and lead a life filled with abundance and radiance.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Zarinah can be found in the epic Persian poem "Shahnameh" (Book of Kings), written by the renowned poet Ferdowsi in the late 10th century CE. In this literary masterpiece, Zarinah is mentioned as the name of a beautiful and virtuous princess.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Zarinah. One such individual was Zarinah Begum (1613-1662), a powerful and influential Mughal princess who served as the governor of various regions in India during the reign of her brother, Emperor Shah Jahan.
Another prominent figure was Zarinah Khanum (1805-1865), a skilled Iranian painter and calligrapher who was renowned for her intricate and beautiful works of art. Her paintings and calligraphic pieces are displayed in various museums and collections around the world.
In the realm of literature, Zarinah Khazi (1920-2004) was a celebrated Afghan poet and writer. Her poems, which often explored themes of love, loss, and the human experience, gained widespread recognition and acclaim throughout Afghanistan and beyond.
The name Zarinah also holds significance in the Islamic tradition. Zarinah bint Kays, also known as Umm al-Mu'minin (Mother of the Believers), was a companion of the Prophet Muhammad and one of his wives. She is respected and revered by Muslims for her piety and devotion to the faith.
Another notable figure was Zarinah Nadir (1935-2003), a renowned Afghan singer and musician who played a pivotal role in preserving and promoting traditional Afghan music. Her powerful voice and captivating performances earned her widespread acclaim both within Afghanistan and internationally.
People
Zarinah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zarinah 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
Zarinah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zarinah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 178 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zarinah 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 1,925,586 US residents.
Is Zarinah a common name?
We classify Zarinah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 189 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zarinah most popular?
The single biggest year for Zarinah was 1978, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zarinah is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Zarinah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 190 people with the name Zarinah, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #39,614 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 Zarinah 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 Zarinah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Zarinah leans strongly female. 194 people counted with this name were female (99.0%), compared with 2 male bearers (1.0%). 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 Zarinah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zarinah is Black at 74.7%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (7.9%) and Hispanic (6.8%). 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 Zarinah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Zarinah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.7% (142 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 Zarinah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zarinah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zarinah 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 Zarinah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zarinah 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 Zarinah 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 the name Zarinah?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Zarinah, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.