Zakiyyah
Feminine · “Pure”
The doubled y in Zakiyyah is not decoration. Arabic marks a doubled consonant with a small symbol written above the letter, and transliteration into the roman alphabet has to show it somehow; writing the letter twice is the standard solution, and it records something the original genuinely has.
How old is the name Zakiyyah?
Zakiyyah first appears in US birth records in 1975 — 50 years ago. The typical Zakiyyah alive today was born around 1990, making them about 35 years old. About 1,100 people named Zakiyyah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Zakiyyah most popular?
Zakiyyah peaked in 1978, reaching #1546 nationally. See the whole 1978 chart.
Where it comes from
From zakiyya to Zakiyyah
The story of Zakiyyah
The same three consonants give the word for the obligatory almsgiving that is one of the pillars of Islam. Zakat is a fixed proportion of a person's accumulated wealth, paid annually, and the root it comes from means both to purify and to grow: the theology is explicit that giving the share away is what makes the rest of the wealth clean, and that what is given increases rather than diminishes what is left. The connection is built into the vocabulary rather than argued for. A name meaning pure and a tax meaning purification come from the same three letters, and the link between purity and growth that English has to explain in a sentence is simply present in the Arabic root.
Meaning
Pure, virtuous
Arabic zakiyya, the feminine of an adjective meaning pure or of good character. The root carries both purity and growth, which are connected in the language in a way English does not manage. The doubled letter in the middle is a real feature of the Arabic word and not an English addition.
How the name formed
- zakiyya
- Zakiyyah
Related forms: Zakiyya · Zekiye · Zakia
Pronouncing Zakiyyah
za-KEE-yah
Three or four syllables depending on how the doubled y is handled, and in Arabic the consonant is genuinely held longer, which English does not do. The final h marks a letter rather than a sound and is silent.
Nicknames for Zakiyyah
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1975
- Most girls named
- 197871 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1546reached in 1978
- Change vs 2021
- −16.7%5 in 2022, from 6
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Zakiyyah in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Zakiyya in Arabic — transliteration
- Zekiye in Turkish — same name
- Zakia in Urdu — transliteration
Zakiyyahs among us
people named Zakiyyah are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Zakiyyah sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- The spelling is a careful transliteration rather than an approximation, and records real features of the original.
- The meaning is clear, positive and connected to a central concept in Islam.
- Zaki and Zee are two short forms in completely different registers.
- The doubled y looks like decoration to an English reader and will be simplified constantly.
- Zakia, Zakiya and Zakiyah are all in use, so spelling it out is permanent.
- The held consonant cannot be produced by most English speakers, so the name is always approximated.
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Zakiyyah
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Zakiyyahs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,100 people named Zakiyyah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Zakiyyah in 2025?
- Zakiyyah is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Zakiyyah with classmates?
- Zakiyyah will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More Z names
The most-given names starting with Z, all years combined.
Zoe#31 · Zoey#69 · Zara#212 · Zuri#328 · Zelma#6838 · Zelda#832 · Zariah#449 · Zella#1733
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Zakiyyah? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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