Zainab

Meaning: Fragrant flower; desert flower
Origin: Variant of Zaynab (from Arabic)

Girl's name · #810 in the US (2025) · Trending

Popularity over time

Zainab is climbing: on the charts since 1957, it reached #810 in 2025 — its strongest showing yet, with about 340 girls given the name last year. Roughly 7,300 have carried it all-time.

Across the states

See where Zainab is more common.

Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 19 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.

Around the world

See how Zainab ranks in other countries and regions.

#128 in England & Wales (2025) · #225 in Scotland (2025) · #274 in Belgium (2025) · #289 in Austria (2025) · #293 in Ireland (2025) · #324 in Sweden (2025) · #332 in New Zealand (2025) · #333 in N. Ireland (2025) · #477 in Netherlands (2025) · #814 in France (2025) · #1,410 in Switzerland (2025) · #264 in Canada (2024).

Famous Zainabs

Zainab bint Muhammad — Eldest daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad
Zainab Hawa Bangura — Sierra Leonean politician
Zainab Salbi — Iraqi American author, women's rights activist
Zainab Biisheva — Soviet writer (1908–1996)
Zainab al-Ghazali — Egyptian activist (1917–2005)

In stories & tradition

Zainab Masood — EastEnders (TV series)

What Zainabs become

Among 135 notable people named Zainab:

Medical professionals appear 1.97× more often than among typical names — e.g. Zainab Shinkafi Bagudu, Nigerian consultant pediatrician.

Spellings & nicknames

Together with its spelling variant Zaynab (#1492), Zainab would rank around #608 with about 480 births last year — the newborns split about 70/30 between Zainab and Zaynab.

Similar names: Zaynab · Soraya · Shaindy · Ayah · Samira · Sariyah

Browse more girl names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.

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