MEANING & HISTORY
What does Zara mean?
Zara has been used as a variant of Sarah, whose Hebrew source means lady or princess. It is also associated with Arabic Zahra, a separate flower or brightness-related name tradition.
These accounts should remain distinct. The Latin spelling does not establish one universal meaning or identify a particular royal namesake as every family’s inspiration.
References for this explanation
Pronunciation & syllables
A dictionary pronunciation or syllable division has not been verified for this exact spelling. Use the synthetic reading as a starting point and confirm the intended pronunciation with the family.
Origin and name formation
Language-specific accounts from the dictionary. A shared spelling can have more than one history.
EnglishEtymology & source
A 20th-century variant of Sarah, or explained as Arabic زَهْرَة (zahra, “flower”); given to the daughter of Princess Anne in 1981.
A female given name.; A female given name from Latin [in turn from Ancient Greek, in turn from Hebrew], variant of Sarah.; A female given name from Arabic.
EnglishEtymology & source
From Biblical Hebrew שָׂרָה (śārâ, “lady, princess”), from the Biblical figure originally named Sarai (שָׂרָי (śārāy, literally “masters, princes”)).
A female given name from Hebrew.; A female given name from Arabic, ultimately from the same source.
Adapted from Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki/Wiktextract. Source accounts remain in their original English; editorial summaries and filters are adapted. Attribution and downloads
People with the name Zara
Public figures and other documented namesakes linked by an explicit given-name claim. This is a selection of records, not a popularity ranking.
DOCUMENTED NAMESAKE
Zara Aldana
Filipina celebrity
The record establishes the name association, not the person’s intended meaning, pronunciation or ancestry. Descriptions are attributed to Wikidata contributors (CC0).
Use in Philippine-linked records
Wikidata
1
distinct person records with an explicit given-name claim
Community-edited coverage, not a census or birth registry. Examples: Zara Aldana
PSA · OFFICIAL BIRTH RECORDS
Zara in the birth records
Exact spelling and stated year in the published name tables. Read the counts as individual snapshots.
Tables included: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The 2016 fact sheet lists five names per sex; the later tables include ten. Missing counts are not inferred. Sex categories follow the official tables, independently of dictionary gender labels. Explore the official tables →
Similar names to Zara
Names with a similar opening or ending, ordered by spelling distance. Similar spelling does not imply the same meaning or origin.
Names in this collection
- Cara♀Beloved in Italian or friend in Irish
- Dara♂♀Irish, Persian and Slavic name traditions
- Kara♂♀Cara-family form: beloved or friend
- Lara♀Russian familiar form of Larissa
- Mara♀Bitter in Hebrew, or a Maria/Tamara short form
- Sara♀Lady or princess
- Tara♀Irish place-name form; also Sanskrit star
- Zaira♀Italian and Spanish form of Voltaire’s Zaïre
What rhymes with Zara?
No dictionary-confirmed rhyme match is available for this spelling in the current catalogue.
Explore Zara further
Follow the sources
- Wikidata given-name item Q4023853 — Zara (opens in a new tab)
Given-name identity, native labels, language associations and explicit class where present; not lexical meaning or population frequency.
- Wikidata — Zara Aldana (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q4023853 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wiktionary contributors — Zara (English) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Wiktionary contributors — Zara (English) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Wiktionary: Zara (opens in a new tab)
Personal-name formation and etymological relationships; imported dictionary account consulted.