Given name & surname · also Spanish
Zelaya
“field”
Zelaya is a surname from Spanish, ultimately from Basque. It is used in English and Spanish.
Meaning & origin
Where it comes from
Zelaya comes from Spanish, and ultimately from Basque.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 2008. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Zelaya through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 125
- 0 boys · 125 girls
- Most popular year
- 2025
- 20 babies
- 2025
- 20
- #6,110 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +61%
- Rising fast
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 20 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 6,110 among girls’ names. Average annual use for girls was 61.0% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 13,901 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
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