Fun Facts About the Name Zori
- 787 babies named Zori: U.S. records list 787 babies given the name Zori from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Zori Mean?
Zori has two separate origins that give it different meanings. In Slavic and Romanian use it is connected to the word for dawn: Common Slavic zorja, reflected in Czech and Slovak zora, Croatian and Serbian zora, and Romanian zori, the everyday plural noun for daybreak. The literal sense is "dawn" or "daybreak," and the name is often a short or affectionate form of the feminine names Zora, Zorica, or the Bulgarian Zornitsa (from zornitsa, the morning star).
Independently, Zori can be a transliteration of the Hebrew masculine name Tzori (צורי), meaning "my rock." It comes from tzur (rock) plus the first-person possessive ending -i. Here the literal meaning is "my rock," a word picture used in the Hebrew Bible for God as a source of strength and protection. The two origins are unrelated, and the shared spelling is a coincidence of transliteration.
Zori Name History & Origins
The Slavic feminine names Zora and its relatives belong to a family of words for dawn found across the Slavic languages, from Russian zarya to Polish zorza. Short forms such as Zori grew out of these names in ordinary speech, and Romanian preserves zori as the standard word for daybreak, as in zori de zi. Bulgarian has the related feminine name Zornitsa, and Serbian and Croatian have Zorica, both built on the same dawn root.
The Hebrew Tzori is a traditional name taken from the biblical use of tzur, "rock," as a poetic title for God; the phrase Tzur Yisrael, "Rock of Israel," is familiar from Jewish liturgy. Because Hebrew tzadi has no exact English equivalent, Tzori appears in English as Tzori, Tzuri, or Zori. The form Zori is therefore shared by two unrelated naming traditions rather than descending from a single source.
How Popular is the Name Zori?
Zori has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 2017. Its best rank was #2,740 in 2017.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #4,986 | 27 | 0.0017% |
| 2024 | #4,455 | 32 | 0.0020% |
| 2023 | #3,325 | 49 | 0.0031% |
| 2022 | #3,029 | 55 | 0.0034% |
| 2021 | #3,674 | 42 | 0.0026% |
| 2020 | #3,335 | 47 | 0.0029% |
| 2019 | #2,919 | 57 | 0.0034% |
| 2018 | #3,496 | 45 | 0.0026% |
| 2017 | #2,740 | 63 | 0.0037% |
| 2016 | #3,774 | 41 | 0.0023% |
| 2015 | #3,988 | 38 | 0.0021% |
| 2014 | #3,715 | 42 | 0.0024% |
| 2013 | #4,075 | 37 | 0.0021% |
| 2012 | #6,107 | 22 | 0.0012% |
| 2011 | #5,540 | 25 | 0.0014% |
| 2010 | #7,878 | 16 | 0.0009% |
| 2009 | #6,808 | 20 | 0.0011% |
| 2008 | #15,395 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2007 | #6,549 | 21 | 0.0011% |
| 2006 | #9,282 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 2005 | #13,006 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 2004 | #8,714 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 2003 | #13,836 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2002 | #9,480 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2001 | #9,347 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2000 | #17,647 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1999 | #12,683 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1998 | #9,258 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 1997 | #16,156 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1996 | #15,890 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1993 | #13,440 | 6 | 0.0003% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Zori Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You have aspiration and inspiration, hope and guidance. Since you are intuitive and perceptive and you understand human nature. You have the power to achieve. Diplomacy and discretion make you a good mediator. You are inspired, introspective, and have a good understanding of the human heart. You can have the ability to commercialize your artistic talents successfully. You are often a mystery to others and to yourself. You are always reaching for something higher, without exactly knowing what that "higher" is. You are frank, methodical and believe in law, system and order.
You are seeking freedom, opportunities to enjoy life: to make love, to go places and to do things. You are very adventurous and willing to take risk to achieve your objectives. New ways and new experiences can't satisfy your restless nature. One adventure leads you to another. You are honest and fair, because you know that this is the only way to receive justice and honesty from other people. But your personal growth is vital for you, and it is difficult to be tied down by rules and obligations. Your restless spirit might best controlled by choosing the field of work that meet your demand for action and adventure.
✦ Zori's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Zori's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.