Head to head · Girls' names
Fatima vs Zuri
#330 vs #328 in 2025
Zuri is a whisker ahead (#328 vs #330 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Zuri is stepping back from its peak, Fatima is holding its place on the charts. On momentum, Fatima has the edge.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
The tape is even: Fatima and Zuri each lead 3 measures of 6.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1910s: Fatima #4251, Zuri — — Fatima higher
- 1920s: Fatima #4662, Zuri — — Fatima higher
- 1930s: Fatima #3574, Zuri — — Fatima higher
- 1940s: Fatima #3001, Zuri — — Fatima higher
- 1950s: Fatima #2050, Zuri — — Fatima higher
- 1960s: Fatima #1575, Zuri — — Fatima higher
- 1970s: Fatima #933, Zuri #7583 — Fatima higher
- 1980s: Fatima #726, Zuri #4566 — Fatima higher
- 1990s: Fatima #557, Zuri #2475 — Fatima higher
- 2000s: Fatima #245, Zuri #2004 — Fatima higher
- 2010s: Fatima #310, Zuri #521 — Fatima higher
- 2020s: Fatima #344, Zuri #240 — Zuri higher
Fatima stood higher in 11 of 12 decades; Zuri took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Fatima | Zuri |
|---|---|---|
| 1910s | #4251 | — |
| 1920s | #4662 | — |
| 1930s | #3574 | — |
| 1940s | #3001 | — |
| 1950s | #2050 | — |
| 1960s | #1575 | — |
| 1970s | #933 | #7583 |
| 1980s | #726 | #4566 |
| 1990s | #557 | #2475 |
| 2000s | #245 | #2004 |
| 2010s | #310 | #521 |
| 2020s | #344 | #240 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Fatima
- England & Wales#76
- Canada#100
Zuri
Not charting outside the US.
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Fatima
one who weans, one who abstains
From the Arabic root f-ṭ-m, tied to the verb faṭama, 'to wean.' The connection to abstinence is part of the same root's range of sense.
Fāṭimah → Fatima → Fátima
How it traveled
The name is Arabic, and its fame rests on Fāṭimah, daughter of the Prophet Muhammad — among the most honored names in the Muslim world, and especially revered in Shia tradition. It spread with Arabic across North Africa, West Africa, Persia, Turkey and South Asia, taking a local shape in each place.
Zuri
good, beautiful (Swahili)
In Swahili the adjective stem -zuri takes agreement prefixes — nzuri, mzuri, kizuri — and is one of the first words a learner meets. Two unrelated look-alikes exist: zuri means 'white' in Basque, and the Hebrew name Tzuri, sometimes written Zuri, comes from tzur, 'rock'. Neither is the road by which Zuri became a common American girls' name.
nzuri / -zuri (Swahili 'good, beautiful') → Zuri
How it traveled
The word comes from Swahili, a Bantu language with heavy Arabic borrowing that serves as a lingua franca across Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and the eastern Congo. Swahili vocabulary entered American English through Black cultural and educational movements of the mid-twentieth century — Kwanzaa, founded in the 1960s, took its principles and much of its language directly from Swahili — and a set of short, vowel-clear Swahili words became given names in the process.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Fatima
FAT-ih-mah
Stress falls on the first syllable in every major tradition. English speakers usually say FAT-ih-mah; Arabic and Portuguese speakers lengthen the first vowel closer to FAH-tee-mah. Both are correct, and a child will likely hear both.
- Fati — The most widespread affectionate short form, used across Arabic-, Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking families.
- Fatou — Standard short form in Senegal, Mali and the Gambia, where it also stands on its own as a full given name.
- Fatma — A full given name in its own right in Turkey and Egypt, and used elsewhere as a familiar form of Fatima.
- Tima — Informal, family-level; drops the first syllable rather than keeping it.
- Also Fifi.
Zuri
ZOO-ree
Two syllables, the vowels kept pure as in Swahili — 'zoo' then 'ree'. Some American speakers say ZUR-ee, with the first vowel closer to 'were'; both are heard, and correcting it once usually settles it.
- Zuzu — The most common family short form; used affectionately at home rather than on paperwork.
- Zu — Informal clipping, easy for younger siblings to say.
- Z — Initial-only nickname, more common among school friends and teammates than adults.
- Ri — Occasional informal short form, taken from the second syllable.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Fatima if you want…
- a name on the way upup 12 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itFatima runs 3 syllables, Zuri 2
- a name that charts abroad tooFatima is on the national lists of England & Wales and Canada
Choose Zuri if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsZuri is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesZuri is 2 syllables to Fatima's 3
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Fatima
Strengths
- Recognized on several continents and in several major languages, so it needs no explanation in most of the world.
- Phonetic in English — people who have never seen it written can usually spell it after hearing it once.
- A long unbroken run in American records, without ever becoming a name found in every classroom.
To consider
- The English pronunciation opens with the sound of the word 'fat,' and school-age teasing along that line does happen. Families who prefer the FAH-tee-mah pronunciation often find it heads this off.
- The name carries strong and specific religious weight in both Islam and Catholicism. Many families choose it precisely for that; others should know that people will often draw a conclusion about the family's background from it.
- Close variants — Fatimah, Fatma, Fátima with the accent — are all in circulation, so expect occasional forms filled in with the wrong one.
Zuri
Strengths
- Four letters, phonetic in English: almost anyone can spell it after hearing it once, and read it after seeing it once.
- Works unchanged in Swahili-speaking countries and in English, with no translation or adjustment needed.
- Has a settled, documented meaning in a living language — the kind of answer that holds up when the child asks.
To consider
- The competing spellings Zurie and Zury exist, so expect the occasional 'how do you spell that?' even though Zuri is the standard form.
- It sits close to Zoe, Zara and Suri in sound, and will sometimes be misheard as one of them over the phone or in a noisy room.
- Among Swahili speakers this is an everyday word for 'nice' or 'beautiful' rather than a neutral name — worth knowing if that is your family's language.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Fatima and Zuri in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Fatima and Zuri — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Fatima or Zuri — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Fatima or Zuri?
- Zuri, in 2025: Zuri ranked #328 with 932 babies; Fatima ranked #330 with 931 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Fatima or Zuri?
- Fatima. Over the last five years Fatima moved up 12 places; Zuri moved down 93 places.
- Which is the older name, Fatima or Zuri?
- Fatima entered the US charts in 1919; Zuri entered the US charts in 1971. On the American record, Fatima is the older name.
- How many people are named Fatima and Zuri?
- About 38,500 people named Fatima are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 16,500 people named Zuri are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Fatimas or Zuris in the classroom?
- Fatima will almost certainly be the only one in school. Zuri will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
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