Zaley
Zaley is a musical genre of the Zarma and Songhay people of Niger. Most famous during the 1940s and 1950s, it is a genre dominated by female performers, who take as the subject of their songs the virtues of men whose qualities they appreciated. The word itself comes from the Zarma language, and denotes a blend of musical instruments with female voices; it has also come to mean "amorous seeking".
Meaning & Origin of Zaley
What this name means, where it came from, and how it has traveled across cultures.
Zaley is a musical genre of the Zarma and Songhay people of Niger. Most famous during the 1940s and 1950s, it is a genre dominated by female performers, who take as the subject of their songs the virtues of men whose qualities they appreciated. The word itself comes from the Zarma language, and denotes a blend of musical instruments with female voices; it has also come to mean "amorous seeking".
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0). Read more →
The Story of Zaley
Zaley first appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records as a baby girl name in 2003, with 5 babies given the name that year. The name hit its high-water mark in 2011: 19 births, good for #6,563 nationwide. About 60% of every Zaley on record arrived during the 2010s, its defining decade. Zaley last appeared in the published SSA data in 2024, with 7 recorded births — it has not charted nationally since. All told, over 204 Americans have carried the name since 1880, from the 2000s to the 2020s.
Popularity Over Time
Popularity by State
Names that sound like Zaley
Phonetically similar names — useful when Zaley is the vibe but a different syllable count or letter feel might suit better. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.
Source: Datamuse . Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated.
Frequently Asked Questions about Zaley
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About the name Zaley
Zaley is a girl baby name tracked by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It first appeared in SSA records in 2003 and has accumulated 204 births in the dataset. Zaley's peak popularity came in 2011 when it ranked #6,563. Use the chart and map above to compare Zaley's trajectory across years and U.S. states, or browse the related names section to discover similar choices.
Continue exploring
- Top names of 2011 →
- Names of the 2010s →
- Names starting with "Z" →
- Browse all girl names →
- Top names of 2026 →
Data sources
- Birth statistics (counts, ranks, years 1880–2026) — U.S. Social Security Administration . Predictions for years not yet released by SSA are computed by Peek a Name from historical trends; we update with official data as soon as it ships.
- Etymology, cultural origins, and related forms — Behind the Name (used under their public API terms).
- Meaning prose and editorial summary — Wikipedia article extracts, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 .
- Predicted nationality distribution — Nationalize.io .
- Phonetically similar names — Datamuse .
Peek a Name aggregates and presents the above data for informational purposes. Statistical predictions and external attributions are clearly labelled where shown; we make no guarantee of accuracy beyond what each source provides.