Zharia
A feminine Arabic name meaning "bountiful" or "abundant".
Name Census estimates that about 991 living Americans carry the first name Zharia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Zharia today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zharia births was 2000 (84 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zharia. 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
991
~ 1 in 345,867 Americans
Peak year
2000
84 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,404
Tracked since 1995
Census
Zharia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 746 people with the first name Zharia, which placed it at #15,424 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
#15,424
National first-name rank
People counted
746
746 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
89.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Zharia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zharia is Black at 89.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.3%) and Hispanic (3.6%). 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 Zharia 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 Zharia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American89.4% · 667
- Two or more races4.3% · 32
- Hispanic or Latino3.6% · 27
- White2.0% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 5
Popularity
Zharia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zharia from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 491 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zharia 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 Zharia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Zharias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 15 states and territories. Florida, Georgia, Texas recorded the most babies named Zharia, while Virginia, Missouri, Louisiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 18 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Zharia
The name Zharia is believed to have its origins in the Persian language, dating back to around the 6th century BCE. It is derived from the ancient Persian word "zhāriyā," which means "golden" or "shining." The name was likely used in the ancient Persian Empire, which spanned from modern-day Iran to parts of Central Asia and the Middle East.
In ancient Persian texts and records, the name Zharia was sometimes spelled as "Zhārīyah" or "Zhārīyeh." It was a popular name among Persian nobility and aristocracy, often given to daughters born into wealthy or influential families. The name's association with gold and radiance was seen as a symbol of beauty, wealth, and prosperity.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Zharia can be found in the "Shahnameh," a famous epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi in the late 10th century CE. In this literary work, there is a character named Zharia, who is described as a beautiful and virtuous woman.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Zharia. One of the earliest known figures was Zharia al-Hamdani (born around 893 CE), a Persian poet and scholar who hailed from the city of Hamdān in present-day Iran. Her poetic works were highly regarded during her lifetime and contributed to the development of Persian literature.
Another historical figure with the name Zharia was Zharia Khanum (1805-1857), a prominent Persian princess and influential political figure during the Qajar dynasty. She was known for her intelligence, leadership skills, and patronage of the arts and literature.
In the 19th century, Zharia Rostam Beygum (1837-1915) was a celebrated Iranian painter and artist. She was one of the first professional female painters in Iran and is renowned for her intricate and detailed works depicting Persian life and culture.
Zharia Samad Khan (1888-1971) was a renowned Pakistani educator and social reformer. She played a pivotal role in the establishment of several educational institutions for women in the region and campaigned tirelessly for the advancement of women's rights and education.
Finally, Zharia Mehrunnisa (1930-2019) was an acclaimed Indian classical vocalist and musician. She was a highly respected exponent of the Khayal style of Hindustani classical music and was awarded several prestigious honors, including the Padma Bhushan, for her contributions to the art form.
People
Zharia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zharia 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
Zharia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zharia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 991 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zharia 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 345,867 US residents.
Is Zharia a common name?
We classify Zharia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 90.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,007 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zharia most popular?
The single biggest year for Zharia was 2000, when 84 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zharia is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Zharia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 746 people with the name Zharia, or 0.25 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,424 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 Zharia 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 Zharia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Zharia appears almost entirely female. Of the 751 people counted with this name, 99.6% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Zharia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zharia is Black at 89.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.3%) and Hispanic (3.6%). 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 Zharia most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Zharia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.4% (667 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 Zharia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zharia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zharia 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 Zharia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zharia 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 Zharia 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 Zharia?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Zharia, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.