Zully
Feminine · “Arabic salima”
Spanish absorbed about four thousand Arabic words in eight centuries, more than from any other source but Latin. Almohada, aceituna, ojala, azucar, alcalde, alcohol. The given names came too, and Zulema, behind Zully, is one of them.
How old is the name Zully?
Zully first appears in US birth records in 1955 — 70 years ago. The typical Zully alive today was born around 2001, making them about 24 years old. About 700 people named Zully are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Zully most popular?
Zully peaked in 1984, reaching #3329 nationally. Today it ranks #9457, 6,128 places below that high. See the whole 1984 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Sulayma to Zully
The story of Zully
Al-Andalus lasted from 711 to 1492, and the linguistic result is that Spanish carries an Arabic layer no other major European language has. Roughly four thousand words, many of them everyday: almohada, a pillow; aceite, oil; azucar, sugar; alcalde, a mayor; aduana, customs; ajedrez, chess; ojala, from wa-sha-allah, if God wills. The al- at the front of so many of them is the Arabic definite article, absorbed into the noun, which is why Spanish has words that carry a foreign article inside them and why English inherited the same thing in alcohol, algebra, alchemy and almanac. Personal names crossed too, though fewer, and they arrived either through Morisco families or later through romantic literary revivals of an Andalusian past: Zulema, Zoraida, Zaida, Almudena, Guadalupe.
Meaningscholars disagree
Arabic salima, peace or safety
Zully is a Latin American familiar form, most likely of Zulema or Zulima, Spanish forms of Arabic Sulayma or Salma, from the root s-l-m, peace, soundness or safety, the same root as Islam and salaam. It may also be a short form of Zuleika. The American peak is 1984.
How the name formed
- Sulayma
- Zulema
- Zully
Related forms: Zulema · Sulayma · Zulie
Pronouncing Zully
SOO-lee
Two syllables, stress on the first. Spanish says the z as an s in Latin America. American English usually voices it to a z.
Nicknames for Zully
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
- 1955
- Most girls named
- 200843 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3329reached in 1984
- Change vs 2024
- −33.3%10 in 2025, from 15
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.
Zully in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Zulema in Spanish — related form
- Sulayma in Arabic — related form
- Zulie in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California.
Zullys among us
people named Zully are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 160,727 born in 2025 was named Zully
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 Fredrick test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Zully's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Fredrick climbed just as high around 1954, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Fredrick's path sketches the road Zully is walking now.
Zully 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
Zully beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Zully in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Five letters and two syllables, easy to say.
- Zulema is available as the formal version.
- The z opening is distinctive.
- Spanish and English say the initial letter differently.
- It reads as a familiar form rather than a formal name.
- The exact source among several Arabic names is uncertain.
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Zully
Feminine · #9457 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Zullys 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 Zully are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Zully in 2025?
- Zully ranks #9457 among US girl names in 2025, with 10 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Zully?
- About 1 in every 160,727 US girls born in 2025 was named Zully — 10 in all.
- Will my child share the name Zully with classmates?
- Zully will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Zully
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Leta#9457 · Inga#9457 · Delphia#9457 · Cammie#9457 · Lisandra#9457 · Amee#9457 · Venecia#9457 · Annetta#9457
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Zully? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Zully and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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