Zuriah
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "shining", "radiant", or "light".
Name Census estimates that about 442 living Americans carry the first name Zuriah. It is a predominantly female name (95.3% of registrations). The average person named Zuriah today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zuriah births was 2024 (54 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zuriah. 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
442
~ 1 in 775,462 Americans
Peak year
2024
54 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,262
Tracked since 2003
Gender
Gender distribution for Zuriah
Zuriah leans heavily female at 95.3% of total registrations, but 21 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Zuriah as a male name
- Ranked #14,233 in 2024
- 5 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2010 (6 births)
Zuriah as a female name
- Ranked #3,262 in 2024
- 49 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (49 births)
Popularity
Zuriah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zuriah from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 198 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zuriah 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 Zuriah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Zuriahs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Zuriah
The name Zuriah is derived from the Hebrew language and has its origins in ancient Middle Eastern culture. It is a variant spelling of the Hebrew name Zuria, which is believed to be a combination of the words "zur" meaning "rock" and "Yah" which is a shortened version of the Hebrew name for God.
In the Bible, the name Zuriah appears in 1 Chronicles 8:15 and is listed as the name of one of the sons of Jeduthun, who was a singer and Levite during the reign of King David. However, there are no other specific mentions or historical references to individuals named Zuriah in ancient texts or religious scriptures.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Zuriah dates back to the 16th century. Zuriah Raphall (1583–1670) was a Polish-born rabbi and scholar who served as the Chief Rabbi of Venice from 1642 until his death.
In the 19th century, Zuriah Edes (1807–1886) was an American teacher and author from Maine, United States. She published several books on grammar and composition, including "Elements of Grammar" in 1828.
Another notable individual with the name Zuriah was Zuriah Minguzuri (1859–1925), an Italian painter and sculptor from Milan. He is known for his paintings depicting scenes from Italian rural life and landscapes.
In the early 20th century, Zuriah Bamrah (1904–1978) was a Syrian-born Jewish philosopher and author who wrote extensively on Jewish ethics and philosophy. He served as the Chief Rabbi of Aleppo, Syria, from 1947 until his death.
More recently, Zuriah Hargrove (1914–2003) was an African American educator and civil rights activist from Mississippi. She played a significant role in the desegregation of schools in her home state and worked tirelessly to promote equal educational opportunities for Black students.
People
Zuriah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zuriah 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
Zuriah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zuriah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 442 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zuriah 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 775,462 US residents.
Is Zuriah a common name?
We classify Zuriah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 445 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zuriah most popular?
The single biggest year for Zuriah was 2024, when 54 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zuriah is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Zuriah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zuriah a female name?
Yes, 95.3% of people registered as Zuriah 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 Zuriah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zuriah 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 Zuriah 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How common is the name Zuriah?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Zuriah at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.