girl's name
Zuri
ZOO-ree
- Origin Swahili
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 4
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 18,801
the United States
#328
2025 births
Zuri is a girl's name of Swahili origin meaning "beautiful". It comes from the adjective nzuri, good or beautiful, and is one of relatively few genuinely Swahili names in wide English-language use.
- Zuri is a name of Swahili origin.
- Peaked in 2022, when 1,555 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 3,494 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1971.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Zuri over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1970s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1970s | 106 |
| 1980s | 253 |
| 1990s | 667 |
| 2000s | 1,439 |
| 2010s | 7,194 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 7,955 |
What Zuri means
Zuri means beautiful or good. In Swahili the adjective nzuri covers both senses — something well made and something pleasing to look at — and the name carries the whole range rather than only the visual one.
Where Zuri comes from
Zuri comes from the Swahili nzuri, beautiful or good, an everyday adjective in a language spoken across East Africa by well over a hundred million people, many as a second language. Swahili itself is a Bantu language heavily layered with Arabic vocabulary from centuries of Indian Ocean trade, though nzuri belongs to the Bantu core rather than the Arabic borrowings. The name entered African-American use during the twentieth century as part of a deliberate turn toward African naming, and it appears in our records from 1971, rising sharply after 2018.
Zuri in use
Zuri charts in five of the seven countries we track and peaked in 2022.
How popular is Zuri?
In 2025, Zuri was given to 949 babies in the United States, ranking #328 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Zuri is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Zuri
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Zuri in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Common questions about Zuri
What does the name Zuri mean?
Beautiful or good, from the Swahili nzuri.
Is Zuri an African name?
Yes. It comes from Swahili, spoken across East Africa, and belongs to the Bantu core of the language rather than its Arabic borrowings.
How do you pronounce Zuri?
ZOO-ree, with the stress on the first syllable.
How popular is the name Zuri?
In 2025, Zuri was given to 949 babies in the United States, ranking #328 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Is Zuri a girl's or a boy's name?
Zuri is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Zuri?
Zuri has 2 syllables.
When was Zuri most popular?
Zuri peaked in 2022, when 1,555 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
Is Zuri a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Zuri currently ranks #328 in the United States. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.