Zarya
Feminine · “Dawn”
Zarya is the Russian word for dawn — and for the glow at either end of the day, since Russian uses one word for both. It is also the name of the first module of the International Space Station, and of a video game character, and its American peak is 2022.
How old is the name Zarya?
Zarya first appears in US birth records in 1997 — 28 years ago. The typical Zarya is a kid of about 10 — this name's wave is very recent. About 700 people named Zarya are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Zarya most popular?
Zarya peaked in 2022, reaching #3595 nationally. Today it ranks #5410, 1,815 places below that high. See the whole 2022 chart.
Where it comes from
From заря to Zarya
The story of Zarya
Zarya is an ordinary Russian word and appears in Slavic folklore as a goddess or pair of goddesses of the morning and evening light, though the folkloric material is thin and much of what circulates about it is nineteenth-century reconstruction rather than recorded tradition. Its modern visibility comes from two entirely different places: Zarya was the first module of the International Space Station, launched in November 1998, and Zarya is a Russian character in the game Overwatch, released in 2016. American birth records show the name essentially absent before 2015 and peaking in 2022, which places it firmly with the second.
Meaning
Dawn; the glow of sunrise or sunset
From Russian заря, the light in the sky at dawn or dusk, from a Slavic root meaning to shine or to glow. The reading is settled. The word covers both ends of the day, which English needs two words for. A separate Arabic and Urdu name Zaria and the American Zariah are unrelated to it.
How the name formed
- заря
- Zarya
Related forms: Заря · Zoria · Zorza
Pronouncing Zarya
ZAR-yah
Two syllables, stress on the first in the common English saying. Russian puts the stress on the second and reduces the first, zuh-RYAH, which is noticeably different.
Nicknames for Zarya
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
- 1997
- Most girls named
- 202243 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3595reached in 2022
- Change vs 2024
- −23.3%23 in 2025, from 30
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.
Zarya in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Заря in Russian — transliteration
- Zoria in Ukrainian — related form
- Zorza in Polish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Florida, California.
Zaryas among us
people named Zarya are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 69,881 born in 2025 was named Zarya
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Zarya
- #5410
- Zarya on the 2025 chart
- #209
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Zarya went to 23 girls in 2025, but Zariah, Zariyah and Zaria and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 8 spellings went to 1,576, which makes it the 209th most-given girls’ name of the year — 5,201 places above the chart.
and 1 rarer spelling.
About 1 girl in 1,020 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 69,881 for Zarya itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Shanyah test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Zarya's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Shanyah climbed just as high around 2002, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Shanyah's path sketches the road Zarya is walking now.
Zarya sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Zarya beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Zarya in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is settled and genuinely beautiful — the glow at either end of the day.
- The Z opening is uncommon in English and makes it distinctive.
- Five letters and two syllables travel easily.
- Russian and English put the stress in different places.
- Zarya, Zariah, Zaria and Zara are four names that will be written for each other.
- The video game character is a strong association for a whole age group.
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What they receive
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Zarya
Feminine · #5410 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Zaryas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Zarya are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Zarya?
- Zarya is one of 7 recorded spellings. Zariah is the more common one — 689 births in 2025 against 23 for Zarya.
- How popular is the name Zarya in 2025?
- Zarya ranks #5410 among US girl names in 2025, with 23 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Zarya?
- About 1 in every 69,881 US girls born in 2025 was named Zarya — 23 in all.
- Will my child share the name Zarya with classmates?
- Zarya will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Zarya
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Aina#5410 · Sherry#5410 · Kathia#5410 · Taj#5410 · Analicia#5410 · Divya#5410 · Halimah#5410 · Leo#5410
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Zarya? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Zarya and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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