Zoha
A feminine name meaning "shining, brilliant" in Arabic.
Name Census estimates that about 1,046 living Americans carry the first name Zoha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Zoha today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zoha births was 2022 (62 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zoha. 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 Zoha with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Zoha is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 13 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.0K
~ 1 in 327,681 Americans
Peak year
2022
62 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,210
Tracked since 1993
Census
Zoha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 944 people with the first name Zoha, which placed it at #12,955 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
#12,955
National first-name rank
People counted
944
944 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
88.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Zoha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zoha is Asian/Pacific Islander at 88.6%. The next largest groups are White (7.0%) and Two or More Races (2.5%). 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 Zoha 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 Zoha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander88.6% · 836
- White7.0% · 66
- Two or more races2.5% · 24
- Black or African American1.0% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 6
- Hispanic or Latino0.3% · 3
Popularity
Zoha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zoha from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 430 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Zoha remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zoha 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 Zoha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Zohas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. New York, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Zoha, while Massachusetts, New Jersey, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 60 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Zoha
The name Zoha has its origins in the Arabic language and culture, dating back to the 7th century. It is derived from the Arabic word "zahiya," which means "radiant" or "shining." The name is believed to have been inspired by the radiant beauty of the celestial bodies, particularly the stars and planets.
In the early days of Islam, Zoha was a popular name among Arab families, often given to girls as a symbol of their beauty and the hope that they would radiate positivity and light into the world. The name can be found in ancient Arabic texts and poetry, where it is often associated with descriptions of celestial bodies and their mesmerizing brilliance.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Zoha can be found in the works of the renowned Arab poet Al-Mutanabbi, who lived from 915 to 965 CE. In his poetry, he frequently used the name as a metaphor for the resplendent beauty of the night sky.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Zoha. One such figure was Zoha Al-Andalusia (1050-1120 CE), a renowned female scholar and poet from the Andalusian region of Spain. She was widely acclaimed for her contributions to the fields of literature and philosophy during the golden age of Islamic civilization.
Another prominent figure was Zoha Al-Baghdadi (1190-1265 CE), a celebrated mathematician and astronomer from Baghdad. She made significant contributions to the study of celestial mechanics and authored several influential treatises on the subject.
In the modern era, Zoha Ismail (1937-2005) was a prominent Egyptian actress and singer who rose to fame in the 1960s and 1970s. Her performances in numerous films and theatrical productions earned her widespread acclaim and a dedicated following.
The name Zoha also gained recognition in the literary world with Zoha Khatun (1932-2018), a celebrated Bangladeshi poet and writer. Her poetic works, which often explored themes of love, nature, and social justice, earned her numerous accolades, including the prestigious Ekushey Padak, Bangladesh's highest civilian honor.
Zoha Al-Ghamdi (1955-present) is a Saudi Arabian activist and advocate for women's rights. She has played a pivotal role in campaigns aimed at improving the legal and social status of women in Saudi Arabia, and her efforts have gained international recognition.
People
Zoha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zoha 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
Zoha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zoha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,046 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zoha 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 327,681 US residents.
Is Zoha a common name?
We classify Zoha as "Rare". It ranks above 90.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,057 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zoha most popular?
The single biggest year for Zoha was 2022, when 62 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zoha is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Zoha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 944 people with the name Zoha, or 0.31 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,955 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 Zoha 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 Zoha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Zoha appears almost entirely female. Of the 935 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 Zoha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zoha is Asian/Pacific Islander at 88.6%. The next largest groups are White (7.0%) and Two or More Races (2.5%). 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 Zoha most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Zoha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.6% (836 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 Zoha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zoha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zoha 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 Zoha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zoha 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 Zoha 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 Zoha?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.