Zara is a feminine given name and a surname. It is the English form of the name Zaïre, the central character of Voltaire's 1732 play Zaïre (The Tragedy of Zara) Its popularity may be influenced by the naming of Princess Anne's daughter Zara Phillips in 1981, and the Spanish fashion store Zara. Another derivation, unrelated to the above, is the Bulgarian name Zara (Зара) which is a diminutive of Zaharina or Zaharinka. Notable people with this name Given name Zara Noor Abbas (a.k.a. Zara Noor Siddiqui; born 1990), Pakistani actress Zara Abid (1992–2020), Pakistani model Zara Aronson (1864–1944), Sydney-based journalist Zara Backman (1875–1949), Swedish actress Dame Zara Bate (1909–1989), Australian fashion designer, wife of Harold Holt Zara Cully (1892–1978), American actress Zara Salim Davidson (born 1973), Malaysian royal Zara Davis (born 1966), English windsurfer Zara Dawson (born 1983), English actress and television presenter Zara Dolukhanova (1918–2007), Armenian mezzo-soprano singer Zara DuPont (1869–1946), American suffragist Zara Glover (born 1982), English ten-pin bowler Zara Holland, British television personality Zara Hore-Ruthven, Countess of Gowrie (1879–1965), Anglo-Irish wife of the Earl of Gowrie, Governor-General of Australia Zara Kay (born 1992), secular activist Zara Larsson (born 1997), Swedish singer Zara Leghissa (born 1970), Swedish politician Zara Levina (1906–1976), Ukrainian pianist and composer Zara Long (born 1970), British swimmer. Zara McDermott (born 1996), British media personality Zara McFarlane (born 1983), British musician Zara Mints (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 (1918–2002), Canadian cellist Zara Northover (born 1984), Jamaican shot putter Zara Nutley (1926–2016), British television actress Zara Peerzada (born 1992), Pakistani model Zara Rutherford (born 2002), Belgian-British aviator Zara Schmelen (c. 1793–1831), Southern African translator Zara Sheikh (born 1982), Pakistani model and Lollywood actress Zara Steiner (1928–2020), American-born British historian and academic Zara Tindall (née Phillips; born 1981), daughter of Princess Anne of the United Kingdom Zara Turner (born ca. 1968), British actress Zara Whites (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 (1399–1468), Emperor of Ethiopia (1434–1468) Surname Adhisty Zara (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),