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Zora

#969 in 2025Girls' name

At dawn, through zòra

Zora has been given to 10,248 babies in the U.S. since 1880. In 2025 it ranked #969 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2019, with 353 recorded.

Babies named Zora, 2025

1 in 12,600

Zora over time, 1880–2025

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Zora: meaning, origin, and history

At dawn, through zòra

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Zora means

Zora belongs to the name family reached through Zora → zòra. Its meaning is “at dawn”.

Origin, language, and formation

Zora is used in Czech, Italian, Serbo-Croatian, Slovak and Slovene.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include zòra.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Czech, Zora is pronounced [ˈzora].

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 10,202 girls were recorded with the name Zora between 1880 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 353 in 2019; its best national rank was #258 in 1884.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #875 in 2020 to #969 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #1,575 in 2015 to #969 in 2025.

In the United States, 46 boys were recorded with the name Zora between 1893 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 10 in 2022; its best national rank was #1,178 in 1893.

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 Zora?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 12,600
264 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 6,090
0.02% of girls
Rank, 2025
#969
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
8,705 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Zora 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 5004%

Put another way: gather 8,705 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Zora. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Zoras were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Zora was born before 1951 — so the typical Zora is around 74 today.

Median birth year
1951
About 74 years old
Biggest decade
2020s
18.1% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
42.7%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
5,138
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2020s — 18.1% of all recorded uses (1,845).

Is Zora 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
−51
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−94
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
+606
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.89×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
74.8%
Peak was 2019 (353)
Years since peak
6
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
13.1% average annual change
Best rank ever
#258
1884

Spellings of Zora

Zora is not the most common spelling — Sara is, with 11.5% against Zora's 0.27%.

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 Zora is used

Across 2016–2025, Zora was most concentrated in District of Columbia — about 1 in 541 girls, against 1 in 5,238 across all states with data. It was least common in Kansas (1 in 25,000).

4185 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1District of Columbia1 in 541
  2. 2Maryland1 in 1,887
  3. 3Georgia1 in 2,564
  4. 4Virginia1 in 3,125
  5. 5North Carolina1 in 3,226
  6. 6South Carolina1 in 3,448
  7. 7New York1 in 4,000
  8. 8Michigan1 in 4,167

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.

Geographically, Zora is one of the more regionally concentrated names in the country — more concentrated than 99% of the names used widely enough to compare. See the most regional names

Zora around the world

Where Zora 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
    1999–2025
    #1,512
    in 2025
  • Ireland
    2004–2004
    #677
    in 2004
  • France
    1918–2025
    #3,398
    in 2025
  • Canada
    2003–2024
    #1,109
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1949–2010
    #406
    in 2010

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Central Statistics Office, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS 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 Zora

People whose public names include Zora, 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.

Zora in other languages

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

ZaraZola

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

Zora by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#969
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 94
Best rank ever
#258
1884
Peak year
2019
353 that year
First recorded
1880
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
10,202
Count in 2025
264

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#8,902
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
New entry
Best rank ever
#1,178
1893
Peak year
2022
10 that year
First recorded
1893
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
46
Count in 2025
9

Names similar to Zora

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

KoraAmoraEloraAloraLeoraZoriKimoraLoraSoraOraThoraAdoraElnoraToraDoraMoraKamoraZorahLioraLeonoraDeboraZoraidaFloraZoria

Names with a curve like Zora

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

MazieEleanoraVadaCordeliaClementineVioletteVedaVidaEmmieLennaOpheliaMina

Sibling names for Zora

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 Zora

Top names of 2019, Zora's peak yearThe 2010s in fullOther names that peaked in 1884More old lady namesGirls' names starting with ZLiterary NamesWomen Writer Names