Zyaire

Zyaire is a modern American name, usually treated as a variant spelling of Zaire. Zaire comes from a Portuguese rendering of a Kikongo word for river. It was first applied to the Congo River, and from 1971 to 1997 it was the name of the country now called the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Zyaire spelling has no separate recorded meaning of its own.

It is pronounced zy-AIR, the same way as Zaire.

In the U.S., Zyaire has climbed steadily in recent years, rising from 1,042nd place in 2015 to its highest rank, 298th, in 2024, when 1,129 boys were given the name. In 2025 it ranked 317th with 1,077 babies, a slight dip from that peak that still leaves it well established among modern boys' names.