# Zia (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/zia/  
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 | boys and girls |
| Origin | Arabic |
| Meaning | “light” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈzi.ə/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 3,550 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 322 / 3,228 (91% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 772, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic ضِيَاء (ḍiyāʔ, “light”) via Spanish.

## What it means

Zia is grouped under light.

## 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 | 109 | 1,856 |
| 2012 | 129 | 1,662 |
| 2013 | 135 | 1,598 |
| 2014 | 122 | 1,727 |
| 2015 | 130 | 1,653 |
| 2016 | 143 | 1,566 |
| 2017 | 119 | 1,769 |
| 2018 | 142 | 1,539 |
| 2019 | 192 | 1,228 |
| 2020 | 161 | 1,360 |
| 2021 | 152 | 1,425 |
| 2022 | 181 | 1,308 |
| 2023 | 183 | 1,263 |
| 2024 | 200 | 1,192 |
| 2025 | 146 | 1,477 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 16 | 5,673 |
| 2012 | 16 | 5,718 |
| 2013 | 16 | 5,657 |
| 2014 | 13 | 6,629 |
| 2015 | 14 | 6,321 |
| 2016 | 9 | 8,806 |
| 2017 | 11 | 7,541 |
| 2018 | 14 | 6,341 |
| 2019 | 18 | 5,339 |
| 2020 | 10 | 8,061 |
| 2021 | 11 | 7,582 |
| 2022 | 22 | 4,700 |
| 2023 | 11 | 7,734 |
| 2024 | 13 | 6,829 |
| 2025 | 11 | 7,673 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 29 | 1,149 |
| 2012 | 29 | 1,150 |
| 2013 | 18 | 1,639 |
| 2014 | 18 | 1,628 |
| 2015 | 14 | 1,961 |
| 2016 | 17 | 1,749 |
| 2017 | 22 | 1,457 |
| 2018 | 23 | 1,393 |
| 2019 | 23 | 1,349 |
| 2020 | 31 | 1,065 |
| 2021 | 23 | 1,351 |
| 2022 | 27 | 1,215 |
| 2023 | 35 | 981 |
| 2024 | 31 | 1,097 |
| 2025 | 30 | 1,110 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 10 | 2,039 |
| 2012 | 7 | 2,721 |
| 2013 | 8 | 2,403 |
| 2014 | 7 | 2,690 |
| 2015 | 10 | 2,150 |
| 2016 | 13 | 1,804 |
| 2017 | 9 | 2,324 |
| 2018 | 7 | 2,693 |
| 2019 | 7 | 2,728 |
| 2020 | 9 | 2,228 |
| 2021 | 7 | 2,730 |
| 2022 | 7 | 2,755 |
| 2023 | 7 | 2,813 |
| 2024 | 3 | 5,119 |
| 2025 | 4 | 4,275 |

## 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.