Zori
Feminine · “dawn”
Zori is dawn. The Slavic zorya names the light before the sun comes up, and in the older folk material it is a figure as much as a time: the dawn maiden who opens the gates for the sun each morning. Bulgarian, Serbian and Russian all keep the word, and names built on it are ordinary across the region.
How old is the name Zori?
Zori first appears in US birth records in 1993 — 32 years ago. The typical Zori is a kid of about 8 — this name's wave is very recent. About 800 people named Zori are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Zori most popular?
Zori peaked in 2017, reaching #2713 nationally. Today it ranks #4878, 2,165 places below that high. See the whole 2017 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From zorya to Zori
The story of Zori
Slavic folk religion left a set of dawn figures behind, and the word survived the conversion as an ordinary noun and as a family of names. Zora is the standard full form in Serbian, Croatian and Bulgarian; Zorica is its diminutive; Zoritsa, Zorina and Zori all belong to the same set. In American records the spelling also appears independently, as a short form of Zora and of the Greek Zoe, which means life and is a different word entirely.
Meaning
dawn; daybreak
Slavic zorya, the dawn or the glow before sunrise, which also names the evening glow in some languages. Zora, Zorica and Zorina are all built on it, and Zori serves as the short form of any of them.
How the name formed
- zorya
- Zora
- Zori
Related forms: Zora · Зорница · Zorica
Pronouncing Zori
ZOR-ee
Two syllables, stress in front. Slavic languages say it the same way, with a crisper rolled r.
Nicknames for Zori
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
- 1993
- Most girls named
- 201763 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2713reached in 2017
- Change vs 2024
- −18.2%27 in 2025, from 33
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.
Zori in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Zora in Serbian — related form
- Зорница in Bulgarian — related form
- Zorica in Croatian — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Maryland, Georgia, Pennsylvania.
Zoris among us
people named Zori are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 59,528 born in 2025 was named Zori
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Mariaguadalupe test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Zori's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Mariaguadalupe climbed just as high around 1996, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Mariaguadalupe's path sketches the road Zori is walking now.
Zori 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 Zori is headed
Zori is easing off slowly — about 15% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues.
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.
Zori beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Zori 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 a single image, and one that recurs in the folklore of half of Europe.
- Four letters and two syllables make it fast to write and easy to say.
- Zora is available as a fuller form for anyone who wants one.
- Zori, Zori and Zorie are all in use, so the spelling will be asked for.
- Zoe and Zori are close enough in American speech to be confused.
- It is short enough to offer nothing to shorten and no formal register.
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What they receive
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Zori
Feminine · #4878 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Zoris are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 800 people named Zori are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Zori in 2025?
- Zori ranks #4878 among US girl names in 2025, with 27 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Zori?
- About 1 in every 59,528 US girls born in 2025 was named Zori — 27 in all.
- Will my child share the name Zori with classmates?
- Zori will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Zori
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Maribelle#4878 · Evangelia#4878 · Pari#4878 · Zoraya#4878 · Saba#4878 · Chyna#4878 · Odyssey#4878 · Zana#4878
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Zori? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Zori and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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