| Zuri | Sanaa | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Beautiful | Work of art |
| Origin | swahili | Swahili |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | ZOO-ree | sah-NAH |
| Syllables | 2 | 2 |
| First appeared | 1971 | 1977 |
| Peak year | 2022 (1,523) | 2006 (482) |
| In 2025 | 932 | 89 |
| Trend | Rising | Declining |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Zuri | Sanaa |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 7,795 | 601 |
| 2010s | 7,024 | 2,202 |
| 2000s | 1,239 | 3,178 |
| 1990s | 522 | 104 |
| 1980s | 208 | 56 |
| 1970s | 56 | 5 |
Swahili, 'beautiful,' from the adjective -zuri ('good, beautiful'; cf. nzuri, uzuri 'beauty'). Chiefly feminine. A sometimes-cited Basque meaning ('white') is weakly sourced.
Sanaa means “work of art” or “brilliance” in Swahili.
Zuri is more popular than Sanaa today: about 932 US babies were given the name Zuri in 2025, compared with 89 named Sanaa.
Zuri means Beautiful (swahili origin), while Sanaa means Work of art (Swahili origin).
In US records, Zuri first appears in 1971 and Sanaa in 1977, so Zuri has the longer recorded history.