Zola
Feminine · “Calm”
Zola is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 9,286 girls against 26 boys since 1880.
Four letters, two syllables, and nothing silent in them — Zola lands almost the same way in every language that has met it. It reached American parents in the late nineteenth century, when the French novelist Émile Zola was among the most argued-about writers alive, and it has stayed on the books here ever since. In isiZulu it arrived by a completely different road, as a name in its own right.
How old is the name Zola?
Zola was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Zola alive today was born around 1938, making them about 87 years old. About 4,500 people named Zola are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Zola most popular?
Zola peaked in 1895, reaching #363 nationally. Today it ranks #1334, 971 places below that high. See the whole 1895 chart.
Zola appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From Zola (northern Italian place name and surname) to Zola
The story of Zola
The name reached English speakers mostly as a borrowed surname. Émile Zola, whose family came from northern Italy, was internationally famous in the 1880s and 1890s for his novels and then for his open letter on the Dreyfus affair, and American parents began putting his surname on daughters during exactly those decades. Quite separately, Zola has long been given in southern Africa, where isiZulu speakers use it for both boys and girls. English has ended up with one short, easily said spelling standing on two independent foundations.
Meaningscholars disagree
"Calm, quiet" in isiZulu; in the European line, a surname from northern Italy
Two separate origins share the spelling. In isiZulu, zola carries the sense of being calm or settled, and Zola is a long-established given name in southern Africa. In Italian, Zola is a surname and place name from the north of the country — Zola Predosa sits just outside Bologna — and that is the line the French novelist Émile Zola inherited. Neither reading is a corruption of the other; they simply met.
How the name formed
- Zolanorthern Italian place name and surname
- ZolaFrench surname, 19th century
- ZolaEnglish-language given name
Related forms: Zola · Zola · Zolah
Pronouncing Zola
ZOH-lah
Stress on the first syllable. Zulu speakers give the first vowel a rounder, more open sound, closer to ZAW-lah; both are correct for their own tradition.
Nicknames for Zola
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
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 2019266 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #363reached in 1895
- Change vs 2022
- −33.2%167 in 2025, from 250
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.
Zola in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Zola in isiZulu — same name
- Zola in Italian — same name
- Zolah in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, New York, Texas.
Zolas among us
people named Zola are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 9,624 born in 2025 was named Zola
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Zola 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 Zola is headed
Zola 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.
Zola beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Zola in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Spelled the way it sounds in English, with no silent letters and no fork in the road for a stranger reading it aloud.
- Works in Italian, French, English and isiZulu without changing shape or spelling.
- Short enough to need no nickname, but Zo and Zozo are already there if one is wanted.
- Has been in continuous American use for well over a century, so it is documented rather than newly coined.
- For many readers the first association is Émile Zola, the novelist — a surname before a first name. That fades quickly in daily life, but it is the connection a literary relative will make first.
- A child with this name will likely be the only one in her class, which cuts both ways: no last-initial required, but also a lifetime of spelling it out on the phone.
- In southern Africa Zola is given to boys as well as girls. That is not how US records read it, but it is worth knowing if your family has ties there.
- Most Americans carrying the name today are of an older generation, so it may read as vintage to some ears rather than current.
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What they receive
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Zola
Feminine · #1334 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Zolas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 4,500 people named Zola are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Zola in 2025?
- Zola ranks #1334 among US girl names in 2025, with 167 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Zola?
- About 1 in every 9,624 US girls born in 2025 was named Zola — 167 in all.
- Will my child share the name Zola with classmates?
- Zola will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Zola
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Calia#1334 · Alya#1334 · Tori#1334 · Patricia#1334 · Rebeca#1339 · Zaliyah#1339 · Samadhi#1341 · Wendy#1341
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Zola? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Zola and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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