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Zenobia

#6,540 in 2025Girls' name

Life of Zeus

Zenobia has been given to 4,592 babies in the U.S. since 1881. In 2025 it ranked #6,540 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 1923, with 62 recorded.

Babies named Zenobia, 2025

1 in 184,000

Zenobia over time, 1880–2025

Girls
02040608018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Zenobia: meaning, origin, and history

Life of Zeus

Ancient Greek

What Zenobia means

Zenobia means “life of Zeus”.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

From Latin Zenobia, from Ancient Greek Ζηνοβίᾱ (Zēnobíā), name of a third century Queen of Palmyra. Ostensibly from Ζήνων (Zḗnōn), an ancient derivative of Ζεύς (Zeús), but also suggested to be a rendering of the Arabic زَيْنَب (zaynab, “Zaynab”). First recorded as an English given name in Cornwall in 1586.

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

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Zenobia is used in English, Italian, Occitan and Polish. Its origins include Ancient Greek.

Zenobia comes through Latin Zenobia, Ancient Greek Ζηνοβίᾱ and Arabic زَيْنَب.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Zenobia is pronounced /zəˈnoʊ.bi.ə/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 4,592 girls were recorded with the name Zenobia between 1881 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 62 in 1923; its best national rank was #683 in 1909.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #3,398 in 2020 to #6,540 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #3,701 in 2015 to #6,540 in 2025.

How common is Zenobia?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 184,000
18 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 89,300
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#6,540
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
127,662 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Zenobia sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

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 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 127,662 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Zenobia. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Zenobias were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Zenobia was born before 1959 — so the typical Zenobia is around 66 today.

Median birth year
1959
About 66 years old
Biggest decade
1920s
10.8% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
18.4%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
2,706
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1920s — 10.8% of all recorded uses (497).

Is Zenobia 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
−2,071
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−3,142
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−2,839
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.43×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
29.0%
Peak was 1923 (62)
Years since peak
102
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
28.0% average annual change
Best rank ever
#683
1909

Spellings of Zenobia

Zenobia is the most-used spelling, taking 66.8% of the 6,874 babies given a near-identical spelling.

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 Zenobia is used

Across 1910–2025, Zenobia was most concentrated in Arkansas — about 1 in 16,667 girls, against 1 in 106,411 across all states with data. It was least common in Tennessee (1 in —).

06 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Arkansas1 in 16,667
  2. 2Louisiana1 in 25,000
  3. 3Mississippi1 in 50,000
  4. 4New York1 in 50,000
  5. 5South Carolina1 in 50,000
  6. 6Alabama1 in 100,000
  7. 7California1 in 100,000
  8. 8District of Columbia1 in 100,000

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls 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. Zenobia has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Zenobia around the world

Where Zenobia 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
    1997–2024
    #5,892
    in 2024
  • France
    1925–1925
    #1,382
    in 1925
  • South Australia
    1994–1994
    #716
    in 1994

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

Notable people named Zenobia

People whose public names include Zenobia, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Zenobia by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#6,540
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 3,142
Best rank ever
#683
1909
Peak year
1923
62 that year
First recorded
1881
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
4,592
Count in 2025
18

Names similar to Zenobia

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

ZendayaZenaidaZenoviaZeniyahZeniaZenaZenithZeniahNubiaZenayaZeniyaZennaAnabiaZenayahZendayahRabiaZenyaZenniaZenaylaZenEusebiaColumbiaZenelleZenayda

Names with a curve like Zenobia

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

AlidaLeonorLorenzaRafaelaDelfinaVitaCruzAntoninaEloisaArlenaMatildeSanta

Sibling names for Zenobia

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 Zenobia

Top names of 1923, Zenobia's peak yearThe 1920s in fullOther names that peaked in 1909Girls' names starting with ZAncient Queens & EmpressesOccitan Girl Names