# Zenobia (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/zenobia/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | girls |
| Origin | Greek |
| Meaning | “zaynab” |
| Pronunciation | /zəˈnoʊ.bi.ə/, 4 syllables |
| Nicknames | Nobby |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 4,592 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 0 / 4,592 (100% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 28, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Latin Zēnobiā, 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.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 22 | 6,145 |
| 2012 | 51 | 3,266 |
| 2013 | 37 | 4,074 |
| 2014 | 55 | 3,078 |
| 2015 | 42 | 3,702 |
| 2016 | 48 | 3,377 |
| 2017 | 39 | 3,918 |
| 2018 | 42 | 3,676 |
| 2019 | 37 | 4,005 |
| 2020 | 46 | 3,398 |
| 2021 | 32 | 4,411 |
| 2022 | 33 | 4,376 |
| 2023 | 41 | 3,762 |
| 2024 | 32 | 4,471 |
| 2025 | 18 | 6,541 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 3 | 3,824 |
| 2000 | 3 | 3,912 |
| 2004 | 3 | 4,598 |
| 2012 | 4 | 4,838 |
| 2015 | 3 | 5,730 |
| 2016 | 3 | 5,785 |
| 2017 | 3 | 5,765 |
| 2022 | 3 | 5,669 |
| 2024 | 3 | 5,891 |

## In other languages

- Dutch: Zenobia
- French: Zénobie
- German: Zenobia
- Greek: Ζηνοβία
- Hungarian: Zenóbia
- Italian: Zenobia
- Latin: Zenobia
- Portuguese: Zenóbia
- Russian: Зенобия
- Spanish: Zenobia
- Ukrainian: Зиновія

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.