Zuleima
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "new moon" or "loveliness".
Name Census estimates that about 692 living Americans carry the first name Zuleima. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Zuleima today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zuleima births was 1994 (61 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zuleima. 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
692
~ 1 in 495,310 Americans
Peak year
1994
61 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,067
Tracked since 1984
Census
Zuleima in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,113 people with the first name Zuleima, which placed it at #11,484 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
#11,484
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,113 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
98.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Zuleima
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zuleima is Hispanic at 98.5%. The next largest groups are White (1.2%) and Black (0.3%). 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 Zuleima 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 Zuleima at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino98.5% · 1,096
- White1.2% · 13
- Black or African American0.3% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.1% · 1
Popularity
Zuleima: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zuleima from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 335 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zuleima 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 Zuleima during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Zuleimas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, Texas, Arizona recorded the most babies named Zuleima, while New York, Illinois, Arizona recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 54 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Zuleima
The name Zuleima has its origins in the Arabic language and can be traced back to the 7th century. It is derived from the Arabic word "zulayma," which means "soft and tender" or "gentle." The name is also believed to have connections to the Hebrew name "Shulamit," which means "peaceful."
Zuleima was a popular name among the Arabs during the early Islamic era, and it is mentioned in several ancient Arabic texts and literature. One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name can be found in the ancient Arabic poem "Mu'allaqat," which dates back to the 6th century.
In the 12th century, a famous Andalusian poet named Zuleima was known for her beautiful poetry and her love for a Christian knight. Her tragic love story became a popular theme in literature and art during the medieval period.
During the 16th century, a Spanish noblewoman named Zuleima de Borbón y Aragón was renowned for her beauty and intelligence. She served as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Isabella of Spain and was known for her influential role in the royal court.
In the 18th century, Zuleima Cosca was an Italian painter and engraver who gained recognition for her stunning portraits and landscape paintings. She was one of the few female artists to achieve success during that time period.
Another notable figure named Zuleima was Zuleima Arroyo, a Puerto Rican activist and feminist who played a significant role in the women's rights movement in the early 20th century. She fought for women's suffrage and equal rights, and her work helped pave the way for future generations of women leaders.
Throughout history, the name Zuleima has been borne by various individuals from different cultures and backgrounds, each leaving their mark on the world in their own unique way. The name's Arabic roots and its association with gentleness and peace have contributed to its enduring popularity across generations.
People
Zuleima + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zuleima 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
Zuleima: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zuleima?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 692 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zuleima 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 495,310 US residents.
Is Zuleima a common name?
We classify Zuleima as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 709 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zuleima most popular?
The single biggest year for Zuleima was 1994, when 61 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zuleima is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Zuleima in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,113 people with the name Zuleima, or 0.37 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,484 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 Zuleima 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 Zuleima?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Zuleima appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,118 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 Zuleima?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zuleima is Hispanic at 98.5%. The next largest groups are White (1.2%) and Black (0.3%). 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 Zuleima most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Zuleima in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.5% (1,096 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 Zuleima in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zuleima a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zuleima 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 Zuleima still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zuleima 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 Zuleima 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 are called Zuleima?
Find out how many people share the name Zuleima on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.