Zipporah

Meaning & origin●(measured from records)

Attested across 3 languages in the etymology graph.

Often considered alongside

Names that people choosing a name often weigh against Zipporah, most often first. They share a style rather than an origin.

• Tirzah
• Sephora
• Hadassah
• Keturah
• Tamar
• Xerxes
• Moses
• Yael
• Rivka
• Xena
• Keziah
• Vashti

From the names suggested together in public name-advice forums, in English. A list of what people consider, not a measure of how common any name is.

Other recorded senses●(measured from records)

Zipporah is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• A name of Hebrew origin meaning 'bird', symbolizing freedom, beauty, and song.

  as a name·Biblical Names Compiled Database

• Jewish: common feminine form of the rare Hebrew boy’s name Zippor, from Hebrew zippor ‘bird’. The girl’s name is borne in the Bible by the wife of Moses (Exodus 18:2-4).

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• In English, The wife of Moses.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In English, Ziria, Zeria [Cyllene]

  as a name·Pronouncing Dictionary of Proper Names

• In English, mountain, Greece

  as a name·Pronouncing Dictionary of Proper Names

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Notable people with this name●(measured from records)

• Zippora Rosenbergb. 1868CZnot in their usual nameHolocaust victim (born 1868)
• Zippora Brennerb. 1917ILnot in their usual nameIsraeli painter
• Zipporah Nawab. 1945ZASouth African activist (1945-2007)
• Shifra Baruchson-Arbibb. 1951ILnot in their usual nameIsraeli historian (1951-)
• Zipporah Ndioneb. 1991SNSenegalese lawyer and consultant
• Zippy Fishb. 2006AUnot in their usual nameAustralian rules football player

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

How to address them○(machine-generated)

A formal English salutation is built on the surname, so it needs a full name — on its own, a first name only supports the informal form.

Evidence●(measured from records)

Register rows as of the 2026-10-09 data build.

Frequently asked questions

What does the name Zipporah mean, and where does it come from?

She is often cited as an example of a righteous non-Israelite who entered the covenant, and her quick action in the 'bridegroom of blood' incident is interpreted as saving the deliverer of Israel thro… Recorded by Biblical Names Compiled Database.

What are other forms of the name Zipporah?

In the etymology graph, Tzipora, Séphora and Tziporah are forms of the same name in other languages.

How do you pronounce Zipporah?

A machine transcription gives /zippoɾah/ (IPA) for Swahili.

Is Zipporah a male or female name?

Zipporah is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

In which country does Zipporah have the most bearers?

In the United States, the national register counted about 2.1 thousand people named Zipporah, more than in any other country we hold, where it is most often spelled zipporah.

Where is Zipporah most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Zipporah is densest in Guyana — about 1 in 34 thousand people — even though United States holds more of our records for it.

How common is the name Zipporah?

In the United States, the national register counted 2,074 people named Zipporah in 2020, about 1 in 160 thousand residents.