Zara is a feminine

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a ...

and a surname. It is a spelling variant of the Arabic female name Zahra. It is also the English form of the name Zaïre, the central character of Voltaire's 1732 play ''

Zaïre Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...

(The Tragedy of Zara)'' Its popularity may be influenced by the naming of Princess Anne's daughter

Zara Phillips Zara Anne Elizabeth Tindall (''née'' Phillips; born 15 May 1981) is a British equestrian, an Olympian, and the daughter of Anne, Princess Royal, and Captain Mark Phillips. She is the niece of King Charles III and is 20th in the line of succe ...

in 1981, and the Spanish fashion store Zara. Another derivation, unrelated to the above, is the

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

n name Zara (Зара) which is a diminutive of Zaharina or Zaharinka.

Notable people with this name

Given name

Zara Noor Abbas Zara Noor Abbas, also known by her married name Zara Noor Abbas Siddiqui, is a Pakistani actress. She is best known for her role as Arsala in Momina Duraid's '' Khamoshi'' (2017), and has also acted in serials '' Dharkan'' (2016), '' Lamhay'' ( ...

(a.k.a. Zara Noor Siddiqui; born 1990), Pakistani actress *

Zara Abid Zara Abid ( ur, ; 4 April 199222 May 2020) was a Pakistani model and actress. She was featured in various photo shoots. She made her film debut in ''Chaudhry'', directed by Azeem Sajjad. She was one of the passengers who died aboard PIA Flight ...

(1992–2020), Pakistani model *

Zara Aronson Zara Baar Aronson (; 1864–1944) was a Sydney-based journalist, editor, welfare worker, feminist and restaurateur of Jewish background. She was born in Australia but spent her formative years in Europe, before returning to Sydney where ...

(1864–1944), Sydney-based journalist * Zara Backman (1875–1949), Swedish actress *Dame

Zara Bate Dame Zara Kate Bate (; previously Fell and Holt; 10 March 190914 June 1989) was an Australian fashion entrepreneur. She was best known as the wife of Harold Holt, who was prime minister of Australia from 1966 until his disappearance in 1967. ...

(1909–1989), Australian fashion designer, wife of Harold Holt *

Zara Cully Zara Frances Cully (January 26, 1892 – February 28, 1978) was an American actress. Cully was best known for her role as Olivia 'Mother Jefferson' Jefferson on the CBS sitcom ''The Jeffersons'', which she portrayed from the series beginning in ...

(1892–1978), American actress * Zara Salim Davidson (born 1973), Malaysian royal *

Zara Davis Zara Davis (born 13 July 1966 in Bristol, England) is an English windsurfer. She holds the outright World Women’s Nautical Mile speed record for a sailing vessel. The record was achieved in Namibia in 2006 and ratified by the World Sailing Spe ...

(born 1966), English windsurfer * Zara Dawson (born 1983), English actress and television presenter *

Zara Dolukhanova Zara Aleksandrovna Dolukhanova ( hy, Զարուհի Դոլուխանյան, russian: Зара Александровна Долуханова; 15 March 1918 – 4 December 2007) was a Soviet Armenian mezzo-soprano who achieved fame performing on ...

(1918–2007), Armenian mezzo-soprano singer * Zara DuPont (1869–1946), American suffragist *

Zara Glover Zara Glover (born 24 January 1982 in Preston, Lancashire), is a ten-pin bowler. She is a world champion bowler and a bowling tutor for Brunswick Bowling Academies across Europe. Achievements *2007 World Ranking Masters runner-up - Florid ...

(born 1982), English ten-pin bowler *

Zara Holland Zara Holland is a British television personality best known for taking part in reality show ''Love Island'' on ITV2. She formerly held the title of Miss Great Britain owned by CEO John Singh. Life and career In June 2016 she took part in ITV2 ...

, British television personality *

Zara Hore-Ruthven, Countess of Gowrie Zara Hore-Ruthven, Countess of Gowrie ( Zara Eileen Pollok; 20 January 1879 – 19 July 1965) was the Anglo-Irish wife of the 1st Earl of Gowrie, Governor of South Australia 1928–34, Governor of New South Wales 1935–36 and the longest servi ...

(1879–1965), Anglo-Irish wife of the Earl of Gowrie, Governor-General of Australia * Zara Kay (born 1992), secular activist *

Zara Larsson Zara Maria Larsson (, ; born 16 December 1997) is a Swedish pop singer. In 2008, at the age of 10, she won the second season of the talent show '' Talang'', the Swedish version of the ''Got Talent'' format. Since then she has received recognit ...

(born 1997), Swedish singer * Zara Leghissa (born 1970), Swedish politician *

Zara Levina Zara Aleksandrovna Levina (russian: Зара Александровна Левина; born February 5 ( O.S. January 25), 1906, in Simferopol, Russian Empire – June 27, 1976, in Moscow) was a Soviet pianist and composer. She was from a Jewish fam ...

(1906–1976), Ukrainian pianist and composer *

Zara Long Zara Long (born 6 November 1970) is a retired British swimmer. Swimming career Long competed at the 1984 Summer Olympics and the 1988 Summer Olympics. She represented England and won two silver medals in the 4 x 100 metres and 4 x 200 metres fr ...

(born 1970), British swimmer. * Zara McDermott (born 1996), British media personality *

Zara McFarlane Zara McFarlane is a British jazz/soul singer and songwriter, based in East London. In October 2014, McFarlane was awarded the title of "Best Jazz Act" at the MOBO Awards. She has had four albums released by Brownswood Recordings. Early life Zara ...

(born 1983), British musician *

Zara Mints Zara Grigoryevna Mints (russian: Зара Григорьевна Минц; July 24, 1927 – October 25, 1990) was a Slavic literary scientist active in the University of Tartu. She was the wife of Juri Lotman. Mints was born in Pskov, but th ...

(1927–1990), Russian-Estonian literary scientist, wife of Yuri Lotman * Zara Mohammed (born c.1991), Scottish faith leader * Zara Mullooly (born 2002), British Paralympic swimmer * Zara Nakhimovskaya (born 1934), Latvian chess player *

Zara Nelsova Zara Nelsova (December 23, 1918October 10, 2002) was a prominent cellist. Biography Nelsova was born as Sara Katznelson in Winnipeg, Canada, to parents of Jewish-Russian descent. Nelsova first performed at the age of five in Winnipeg. She eventu ...

(1918–2002), Canadian cellist *

Zara Northover Zara Northover (born March 6, 1984) is a Jamaican shot putter. Northover has dual citizenship in the United States and Jamaica, and competed for Jamaica at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Northover attended Northeastern University in Boston, Massachuse ...

(born 1984), Jamaican shot putter *

Zara Nutley Zara Nutley (born Zahrah Mary Chassib Jaber, 19 August 1924 – 9 October 2016), was an English actress. She is best known for her roles in two television comedy series, ''Mind Your Language'' (as college principal Miss Courtney) and ''Neve ...

(1926–2016), British television actress * Zara Peerzada (born 1992), Pakistani model *

Zara Rutherford Zara Rutherford (born 5 July 2002) is a Belgian-British aviator. At age 19, she became the youngest female pilot to fly solo around the world and the first person to complete a circumnavigation in a microlight aircraft after a five-month journ ...

(born 2002), Belgian-British aviator * Zara Schmelen (c. 1793–1831), Southern African translator *

Zara Sheikh Zara Sheikh (Punjabi, ur, ) is a Pakistani model and actress. Sheikh has acted in films such as ''Tere Pyar Mein'' (2000), ''Salakhain'' (2004) and '' Laaj'' (2003). She won the Nigar Award for Best Actress for her performance in film ''Tere ...

(born 1982), Pakistani model and Lollywood actress *

Zara Steiner Zara Steiner, (''née'' Shakow; 6 November 1928 – 13 February 2020) was an American-born British historian and academic. Born in New York City, she was the daughter of Frances (née Price) and Joseph Shakow.) Her father was an outfitter who pr ...

(1928–2020), American-born British historian and academic *

Zara Tindall Zara Anne Elizabeth Tindall (''née'' Phillips; born 15 May 1981) is a British equestrian, an Olympian, and the daughter of Anne, Princess Royal, and Captain Mark Phillips. She is the niece of King Charles III and is 20th in the line of succ ...

(née Phillips; born 1981), daughter of Princess Anne of the United Kingdom *

Zara Turner Zara Turner is an actress from Northern Ireland. Acting career Turner appeared alongside Gwyneth Paltrow and John Hannah (actor), John Hannah in the 1998 romantic drama film ''Sliding Doors'', and as Dr. Angela Moloney (again with John Hannah ( ...

(born ca. 1968), British actress *

Zara Whites Zara Whites (born Esther Kooiman, 8 November 1968) is a French-Dutch former pornographic film actress. Zara Whites dropped out of school at an early age and moved in with her boyfriend when she was 17. In her late teens she worked as a barmaid ...

(born 1968), Dutch television personality, activist and former pornographic actress * Zara A. Wilson (1840–?), American reformer and lawyer * Zara Wright (active 1920), American author based in Chicago *

Zara Yaqob Zara Yaqob ( Ge'ez: ዘርዐ ያዕቆብ; 1399 – 26 August 1468) was Emperor of Ethiopia, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty who ruled under the regnal name Kwestantinos I (Ge'ez: ቈስታንቲኖስ, "Constantine"). He is known for t ...

(1399–1468), Emperor of Ethiopia (1434–1468)

Surname

Adhisty Zara Adhisty Zara Sundari Kusumawardhani (born June 21, 2003), known professionally as Adhisty Zara and formerly Zara JKT48, is an Indonesian singer, performer, and actress. She emerged as a member of the Indonesian-Japanese idol group JKT48 in 2016 ...

(born 2003), Indonesian singer * Alberto da Zara (1889–1951), Italian admiral * Antonio Zara (died 1621), Roman Catholic prelate * Bert Zara (active 1969–1975), Australian rugby league player * Christopher Zara (born 1970), American writer * Gregorio Y. Zara (1902–1978), Filipino engineer and physicist * Zdeněk Žára (1932–2002), Czechoslovak rower

Fictional characters

Zara Carmichael Dr. Zara Carmichael is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' Doctors'', portrayed by Elisabeth Dermot Walsh. Zara was introduced as the new general practitioner at the fictional Mill Health Centre on 4 June 2009 and remained a re ...

in TV series '' Doctors'' *

Zara Morgan Zara Morgan is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks'', played by Kelly Condron. The character initially appeared from 1 April 1999 to 22 December 2005. In July 2021, 15 years after her initial departure from th ...

in TV series ''

Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera '' Brookside''. Since 2005, episodes have been aired on sister channel E4 a ...

'' * Zara (character), a DC Comics supervillain * Zara Asker, head of CHERUB in the teenage spy novels by Robert Muchamore *Zara Dearborn, antagonist in '' Queen of Air and Darkness'', novel by Cassandra Clare *Zara, the antagonist of the video game '' Disney Princess: Enchanted Journey''. *Zara the Starlight Fairy, a character from the ''

Rainbow Magic ''Rainbow Magic'' is a British children's fiction brand originally created by Working Partners and now owned by IoM Media Ventures. It is best known for the children's books published by Orchard Books. The books are ghostwritten by a number of ...

'' book franchise. *Zara Amaro, daughter of Detective Nick Amaro in the TV series '' Law and Order: Special Victims Unit''

References

{{wiktionary, Zara Feminine given names

Notable people with this name

Given name

Surname

Fictional characters

See also

References