Zuri (English)

Where does "Zuri" come from?

The English given name 'Zuri' entered the language as a modern African American usage, borrowed from the Swahili word 'zuri', which translates to 'good'[1]. This Swahili term itself was ultimately borrowed from Arabic[2].

Open questions

• The exact Arabic source term underlying the Swahili word 'zuri' is not specified. [2]

Full etymology tree

• Zuri (English), 'A unisex given name from Swahili, of modern African American usage'
  • borrowed zuri (Swahili), 'good, kind'
    • borrowed العربية (al-'arabiyyah) (Arabic), 'definite singular of عَرَبِيَّة (ʕarabiyya)'

Ancestors

• zuri (Swahili)

Sources

1. Zuri (English) - Wiktionary
2. zuri (Swahili) - Wiktionary

Updated August 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris