Zuri
- Pronunciation
- [Zu-ri]
- Gender
- Female
- Meaning
- White And Lovely
- Origin
- French
About the Name Zuri
Zuri descends from the Swahili word for "beautiful" — used continuously in Swahili-speaking East African naming traditions. The name has been adopted into American naming primarily through African-American naming communities seeking distinctive African-heritage girls' names alongside Amari, Aaliyah, and Aria.
The name's most influential modern bearer is the fictional Zuri (a recurring character in Disney Channel programming), and the contemporary American actress and influencer Zuri Adele. The name climbed from outside the US top 1000 in 2010 to the US top 200 girls' rank by 2018 and the top 100 by 2022.
The name's appeal sits in three contemporary American naming preferences: the African-Swahili heritage, the compact two-syllable structure with the distinctive Z opening, and the in-built positive meaning of "beautiful." Common nicknames are scarce since the name is already short — Zu and the rare Zuze each occasionally appear. International variants are minimal since the name's first-name use is essentially modern American; the original Swahili zuri remains the etymological source. The Z-spelling specifically signals contemporary American naming aesthetic, and the underlying Swahili meaning gives the name an inherent positive register.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration name data, 1880–2024 (methodology). By Marvin Tang.
Quick Facts About Zuri
US Popularity History (2010–2025)
Annual US births named Zuri by gender, from US Social Security Administration records. Peak year: 2022 with 1,520 girls named Zuri (girl rank #194 that year).
Where it stands today: in 2025, ranked #329 for girls (932 US births). That's 135 places below its 2022 peak.
Source: US Social Security Administration. Limitations: US birth-certificate data only; names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are suppressed for privacy; spelling variants are counted separately. For names that ranked outside the US top 100 before year 2000, only the years they reached the top 100 are shown — the chart may have gaps for less-popular historical names.
Paste the snippet below on any HTML page. Includes a credit link back to 9BabyNames — please keep it intact.
Where in the US Is Zuri Most Popular?
Average girl-name rank within each state across 2016–2025 SSA records. A lower number means the name appears closer to the top of that state's girls-name rankings — a per-capita measure that isn't biased toward large states. For Zuri the strongest states are District of Columbia, Georgia, Maryland.
Strongest girls-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | #86 | 106 |
| 2 | Georgia | #96 | 893 |
| 3 | Maryland | #115 | 437 |
| 4 | Delaware | #116 | 57 |
| 5 | Louisiana | #159 | 290 |
| 6 | South Carolina | #173 | 286 |
| 7 | North Carolina | #192 | 513 |
| 8 | Virginia | #194 | 419 |
| 9 | Florida | #205 | 825 |
| 10 | New Jersey | #209 | 379 |
Weakest girls-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Minnesota | #633 | 73 |
| 2 | Colorado | #623 | 84 |
| 3 | Arizona | #576 | 102 |
| 4 | Iowa | #574 | 38 |
| 5 | Massachusetts | #555 | 106 |
| 6 | Washington | #555 | 127 |
| 7 | Utah | #525 | 70 |
| 8 | Oregon | #504 | 39 |
| 9 | Kansas | #499 | 45 |
| 10 | Oklahoma | #489 | 87 |
Source: SSA state-level baby-name dataset 2016–2025. States with fewer than 3 years of data for Zuri in this window are excluded. Births < 5 in a given state-year are suppressed by SSA for privacy.
Looking for names like Zuri?
A dedicated page with 60+ related names — spelling variants, rhymes, alliterations, same-origin matches, and shared meaning concepts — lives at its own URL so each kind of similarity gets a deeper treatment than fits here.
Compare Zuri to Other Popular Names
Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for Zuri against today's most popular girls-name peers (top 8 by US births in the last 10 years of SSA records).
Zuri Baby Name Ideas
- Popular Black Baby Names: Rich in Meaning and Legacy
- Swahili Names That Mean Love
- Swahili Baby Names: Meaningful and Beautiful Names for Your Child
- Beautiful Latino Baby Names: Celebrating Heritage and Elegance
- Hispanic Boy Names: A Treasure Trove of Culture and Meaning
- Exotic Boy Names: Unique and Beautiful Options from Around the World
- March Baby Names: Celebrate Spring with Meaningful Names
- Unique Mixed Girl Names: Celebrating Diversity in Naming
- Friend Baby Names: Celebrating Connection and Companionship
- Spunky Baby Names: A Guide to Lively and Spirited Names
- Unusual Baby Names Inspired By The Sky
- 26 Angelic Names Inspired By Traditional Angels
- 200 Unique Pretty Girl Names For Your Beautiful Babies
- 200 Pretty Girl Names For Black Babies
- 100 Unique Baby Names For Your Pretty Girls
- 39 Unique Baby Names Inspired By World Famous Places
- Top 1000 Most Popular Girl Names In U.S. Of 2015
- 64 Baby Names Inspired By Travel Destinations
- 100 Unusual Baby Names That Are Beyond Beautiful
- 200 Angelic Baby Names After Those Spiritual Angels