Zeinab
Feminine
Zeinab is one of the great names of Islamic history: it belonged to a daughter of the Prophet and, more famously, to a granddaughter whose speech in a Damascus court after the killing at Karbala is remembered as an act of extraordinary courage. It is among the most-given women's names in the Muslim world.
How old is the name Zeinab?
Zeinab first appears in US birth records in 1982 — 43 years ago. The typical Zeinab alive today was born around 2004, making them about 21 years old. About 1,300 people named Zeinab are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Zeinab most popular?
Zeinab peaked in 1999, reaching #2567 nationally. Today it ranks #4987, 2,420 places below that high. See the whole 1999 chart.
Where it comes from
From Zaynab to Zeinab
The story of Zeinab
Zaynab bint Ali was present at Karbala in 680, was taken captive afterward, and confronted the caliph in his own court; Shia tradition in particular honors her as the one who carried the account of what had happened and made it impossible to bury. Her shrine in Damascus is a major place of pilgrimage. The name is given across the Sunni and Shia worlds alike, from Morocco to Indonesia, and it came to American records with families from all of them.
Meaningscholars disagree
Not established
Two readings compete. Arabic zaynab is recorded as the name of a fragrant flowering tree, which is the account classical lexicographers give. The alternative reads it as zayn, ornament or beauty, joined to ab, father, giving her father's ornament. Neither has driven the other out.
How the name formed
- Zaynab
- Zeinab
Related forms: زينب · Zeynep · Zeynab · Zainab
Pronouncing Zeinab
ZAY-nab
Two syllables, stress in front. Turkish spells it Zeynep and says the last consonant as a p, which is the same name.
Nicknames for Zeinab
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
- 1982
- Most girls named
- 199955 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2567reached in 1999
- Change vs 2024
- 0.0%26 in 2025, from 26
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.
Zeinab in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- زينب in Arabic — transliteration
- Zeynep in Turkish — same name
- Zeynab in Persian — same name
- Zainab in Hausa — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Michigan, New York.
Zeinabs among us
people named Zeinab are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 61,818 born in 2025 was named Zeinab
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Zeinab
- #4987
- Zeinab on the 2025 chart
- #917
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Zeinab went to 26 girls in 2025, but Zeynab is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 43, which makes it the 917th most-given girls’ name of the year — 4,070 places above the chart.
- Zeinab26
- Zeynab17
About 1 girl in 37,378 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 61,818 for Zeinab 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 Elloise test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Zeinab's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Elloise climbed just as high around 1934, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Elloise's path sketches the road Zeinab is walking now.
Zeinab 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
Where Zeinab is headed
Zeinab should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Zeinab beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Zeinab in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It carries a documented historical figure remembered for courage rather than for suffering alone.
- It is recognized across the entire Muslim world, Sunni and Shia alike.
- Two syllables and six letters make it easy to write and to say.
- Zeinab, Zainab, Zaynab and Zeynep are all in use, so records within a family may differ.
- Its meaning is contested, so a child looking it up will find two answers.
- English readers may stress the second syllable, which changes the shape of the word.
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What they receive
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Zeinab
Feminine · #4987 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Zeinabs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,300 people named Zeinab are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Zeinab?
- Zeinab is the most-used spelling in US records — 26 of the 43 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Zeynab.
- How popular is the name Zeinab in 2025?
- Zeinab ranks #4987 among US girl names in 2025, with 26 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Zeinab?
- About 1 in every 61,818 US girls born in 2025 was named Zeinab — 26 in all.
- Will my child share the name Zeinab with classmates?
- Zeinab will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Zeinab
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Perri#4987 · Giannina#4987 · Karisma#4987 · Zuleyka#4987 · Mccall#4987 · Makinley#4987 · Jayani#4987 · Mela#4987
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Zeinab? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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