Recorded 1974–2025 · United States
Zaire was most popular in 2023, when 674 American babies were given the name — ranking #922 that year. In 2025 it ranked #1,000, with 608 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 10,897 people named Zaire.
Zaire first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1974, which makes it about 51 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 50 of the 52 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 10,897 American births named Zaire between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 10,773 are estimated to be alive today.
608 American babies were named Zaire in 2025, ranking #1,000 that year.
Zaire is rising. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 630 births a year, against 265 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of +138% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Zaire is mostly a boy’s name — 13.1% of the 10,897 Americans given it were girls and 86.9% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 3% girls and 97% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 10,773 Americans named Zaire are alive today — 99% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 11 years old, and half are between 5 and 21.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Zaire on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org