Zara
Meaning and origin
A 20th-century variant of Sarah, or explained as Arabic زَهْرَة (zahra, “flower”); given to the daughter of Princess Anne in 1981.
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Zara (CC BY-SA 4.0). This is the origin of the name in English; families in Sweden may have taken it from another language.
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Zara has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2016. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
Years with fewer than two babies (fewer than ten before 2004) show as zero in the chart and as – in the table.
Show the figures
| Year | Girls |
|---|---|
| 1998 | – |
| 1999 | – |
| 2000 | 11 |
| 2001 | 12 |
| 2002 | 14 |
| 2003 | 14 |
| 2004 | 9 |
| 2005 | 7 |
| 2006 | 17 |
| 2007 | 14 |
| 2008 | 13 |
| 2009 | 21 |
| 2010 | 8 |
| 2011 | 15 |
| 2012 | 18 |
| 2013 | 18 |
| 2014 | 17 |
| 2015 | 24 |
| 2016 | 29 |
| 2017 | 19 |
| 2018 | 12 |
| 2019 | 18 |
| 2020 | 20 |
| 2021 | 11 |
| 2022 | 25 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 369 |
| 2000 | 387 |
| 2001 | 413 |
| 2002 | 443 |
| 2003 | 473 |
| 2004 | 496 |
| 2005 | 513 |
| 2006 | 542 |
| 2007 | 575 |
| 2008 | 609 |
| 2009 | 637 |
| 2010 | 656 |
| 2011 | 684 |
| 2012 | 711 |
| 2013 | 737 |
| 2014 | 767 |
| 2015 | 806 |
| 2016 | 862 |
| 2017 | 896 |
| 2018 | 929 |
| 2019 | 965 |
| 2020 | 1,002 |
Zara in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Zara.Hi! My name is Zara.
- Zara ringde och sa att hon blir lite sen.Zara called and said she'll be a bit late.
- Vet du om Zara kommer på festen på lördag?Do you know if Zara is coming to the party on Saturday?
- Zaras mamma är lärare.Zara's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Zaras mamma is Zara's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Zara
How do you pronounce Zara in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Zara in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Zara mean?
A 20th-century variant of Sarah, or explained as Arabic زَهْرَة (zahra, “flower”); given to the daughter of Princess Anne in 1981.
How popular is Zara in Sweden?
25 babies were named Zara in 2022. In 2020, 1,002 people in Sweden had Zara as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2016 in the years SCB covers (1998–2022).
Popularity figures: Statistics Sweden (SCB), name statistics (BE0001) from the Statistical Database, released as open data under CC0. Each spelling is counted as its own name, as SCB does. SCB's open name statistics end with babies named in 2022 and the population on 31 December 2020; SCB stopped producing name statistics in 2024 and now points to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) for newer figures.
Origins, IPA and recordings: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), via kaikki.org; recordings from Lingua Libre on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA). Lingolib is not affiliated with SCB or Wiktionary. Sources last checked 7 October 2026.