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Zahir

#738 in 2025Boys' name

Face, through ظَاهِر

Zahir has been given to 4,784 babies in the U.S. since 1973. In 2025 it ranked #738 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2025, with 356 recorded.

Babies named Zahir, 2025

1 in 9,310

Zahir over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
010020030040018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Zahir: meaning, origin, and history

Face, through ظَاهِر

Arabic

What Zahir means

Zahir belongs to the name family reached through Zahir → ظَاهِر. Its meaning is “face”.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

Borrowed from Arabic ظَاهِر (ẓāhir), ظٰهِر (ẓāhir). The surname is mostly found in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Zahir (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Zahir is used in English and Azerbaijani. Its origins include Arabic.

Zahir comes through Arabic ظَاهِر.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include ظَاهِر.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 4,777 boys were recorded with the name Zahir between 1973 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 356 in 2025; its best national rank was #738 in 2025.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #890 in 2020 to #738 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #1,209 in 2015 to #738 in 2025.

In the United States, 7 girls were recorded with the name Zahir between 2007 and 2007. Its highest annual count was 7 in 2007; its best national rank was #15,439 in 2007.

How common is Zahir?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 9,310
356 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 4,800
0.02% of boys
Rank, 2025
#738
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
6,456 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Zahir sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 1001%
School of 5005%

Put another way: gather 6,456 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Zahir. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Zahirs were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Zahir was born before 2017 — so the typical Zahir is around 8 today.

Median birth year
2017
About 8 years old
Biggest decade
2020s
39.0% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
92.1%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
4,777
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2020s — 39.0% of all recorded uses (1,862).

Is Zahir rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+12
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+152
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+471
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
2.33×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
100.0%
Peak was 2025 (356)
Years since peak
Peaking now
At its all-time high
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
12.5% average annual change
Best rank ever
#738
2025

Spellings of Zahir

Zahir is not the most common spelling — Amir is, with 24.1% against Zahir's 2.1%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Zahir is used

Across 2016–2025, Zahir was most concentrated in Georgia — about 1 in 2,632 boys, against 1 in 6,088 across all states with data. It was least common in Alabama (1 in 33,333).

338 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Georgia1 in 2,632
  2. 2Maryland1 in 3,030
  3. 3District of Columbia1 in 3,448
  4. 4Florida1 in 3,571
  5. 5New York1 in 3,846
  6. 6New Jersey1 in 4,000
  7. 7Massachusetts1 in 4,167
  8. 8North Carolina1 in 5,000

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Geographically, Zahir is somewhat regional — more concentrated than 66% of the names used widely enough to compare. See the most regional names

Zahir around the world

Where Zahir ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1997–2025
    #2,014
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    2024–2024
    #727
    in 2024
  • France
    1958–2025
    #937
    in 2025
  • Canada
    2006–2024
    #1,105
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    2003–2003
    #588
    in 2003

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Zahir by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#738
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 152
Best rank ever
#738
2025
Peak year
2025
356 that year
First recorded
1973
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
4,777
Count in 2025
356

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#15,439
2007
Peak year
2007
7 that year
First recorded
2007
Last recorded
2007
All-time count
7
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Zahir

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

ZahidJahirTahirYahirMahirMihirZahmirSahirZaheerBashirZahkiZahariZyhirZaharZahanZahkaiHashirZahiZahairAshirZaahirTyhirVadhirZaheem

Names with a curve like Zahir

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Zahir, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

AriesBenicioZaydYahyaBodenElielKyrenGatlinJakariKylenDakariAdler

Sibling names for Zahir

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Zahir

Top names of 2025, Zahir's peak yearThe 2020s in fullOther names that peaked in 2025Boys' names starting with ZArabic Boy NamesAzerbaijani Boy NamesPunjabi Boy Names