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Zola

#1,338 in 2025Girls' name

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Zola has been given to 9,312 babies in the U.S. since 1880. In 2025 it ranked #1,338 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2018, with 278 recorded.

Babies named Zola, 2025

1 in 19,900

Zola over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
010020030018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Zola: meaning, origin, and history

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Zola means

Zola has more than one naming route in the cited origin entries: distinct naming traditions.

The naming story behind Zola

An additional editorial entry explicitly leaves the meaning of Zola uncertain. That qualification belongs to its own naming route, even when another tradition using the same spelling has a known translation. The spelling alone cannot decide which history a family intends.

One of the source’s documented entries for Zola records a meaning of calm.

Origin, language, and formation

Zola is used in English.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 9,286 girls were recorded with the name Zola between 1880 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 278 in 2018; its best national rank was #365 in 1895.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #935 in 2020 to #1,338 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #1,654 in 2015 to #1,338 in 2025.

In the United States, 26 boys were recorded with the name Zola between 1916 and 2018. Its highest annual count was 6 in 1916; its best national rank was #3,895 in 1916.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Zola?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 19,900
167 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 9,620
0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#1,338
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
13,761 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Zola 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 5002%

Put another way: gather 13,761 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Zola. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Zolas were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Zola was born before 1938 — so the typical Zola is around 87 today.

Median birth year
1938
About 87 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
16.4% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
35.1%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
4,023
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 16.4% of all recorded uses (1,525).

Is Zola 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
−234
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−403
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
+316
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.28×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
60.1%
Peak was 2018 (278)
Years since peak
7
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
18.3% average annual change
Best rank ever
#365
1895

Spellings of Zola

Zola is not the most common spelling — Ella is, with 12.1% against Zola's 0.32%.

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 Zola is used

Across 2016–2025, Zola was most concentrated in District of Columbia — about 1 in 1,563 girls, against 1 in 6,804 across all states with data. It was least common in Minnesota (1 in 33,333).

364 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1District of Columbia1 in 1,563
  2. 2South Carolina1 in 3,030
  3. 3Georgia1 in 3,125
  4. 4North Carolina1 in 3,571
  5. 5Tennessee1 in 4,348
  6. 6Ohio1 in 4,545
  7. 7Missouri1 in 4,762
  8. 8Maryland1 in 5,000

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.

Zola around the world

Where Zola 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
    #1,229
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    2018–2022
    #760
    in 2022
  • Northern Ireland
    2025–2025
    #397
    in 2025
  • Ireland
    2012–2022
    #905
    in 2022
  • France
    1998–2025
    #750
    in 2025
  • Canada
    2009–2024
    #1,469
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1953–1997
    #681
    in 1997

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

Notable people named Zola

People whose public names include Zola, 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.

Zola in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Zola. Linked forms have their own page here.

ZalaZora

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Zola by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#1,338
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 403
Best rank ever
#365
1895
Peak year
2018
278 that year
First recorded
1880
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
9,286
Count in 2025
167

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#3,895
1916
Peak year
1916
6 that year
First recorded
1916
Last recorded
2018
All-time count
26
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Zola

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

IolaNolaPaolaEnolaLeolaOlaNicolaFabiolaLolaPolaViolaCeolaDolaSolaCarolaVeolaEolaVolaXolaYolaIzolaNikolaNeolaTheola

Names with a curve like Zola

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

EleanoraVadaMazieVidaIraVedaMagdaleneAgathaArlieLettieAdeliaEllamae

Sibling names for Zola

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 Zola

Top names of 2018, Zola's peak yearThe 2010s in fullOther names that peaked in 1895Girls' names starting with Z