Zen
#3,517 for girls in 2025, 43 births · #1,141 for boys in 2025, 185 births
Given to boys 82.0% of the time
- Peak · boys
- 2022 · 256 births
- Debut · boys
- 5 births
- In top 100 · boys
- neverof 146 years
- Total births · boys
- 2,718since 1969
Zen over time
Rank within each sex, plotted together. Click any year to open it.
Gaps mean fewer than 5 babies received the name that year, so the SSA doesn't publish it.
Show data table
| Year | girls | boys | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| rank | births | rank | births | |
| 2025 | #3,517 | 43 | #1,141 | 185 |
| 2024 | #3,695 | 41 | #955 | 238 |
| 2023 | #2,823 | 60 | #935 | 242 |
| 2022 | #2,661 | 65 | #905 | 256 |
| 2021 | #3,112 | 52 | #1,182 | 166 |
| 2020 | #3,221 | 48 | #1,196 | 160 |
| 2019 | #3,388 | 46 | #1,386 | 128 |
| 2018 | #4,562 | 30 | #1,521 | 112 |
| 2017 | #5,338 | 24 | #1,707 | 92 |
| 2016 | #5,284 | 25 | #1,959 | 74 |
| 2015 | #5,653 | 23 | #1,931 | 75 |
| 2014 | #9,517 | 11 | #1,714 | 88 |
| 2013 | #11,000 | 9 | #2,113 | 63 |
| 2012 | #7,804 | 15 | #2,292 | 56 |
| 2011 | #8,614 | 13 | #2,105 | 63 |
| 2010 | #8,701 | 13 | #2,187 | 60 |
| 2009 | #11,459 | 9 | #1,990 | 70 |
| 2008 | #12,579 | 8 | #1,932 | 74 |
| 2007 | #6,093 | 22 | #2,442 | 52 |
| 2006 | #15,152 | 6 | #2,398 | 51 |
| 2005 | — | #2,325 | 50 | |
| 2004 | #9,892 | 10 | #2,238 | 51 |
| 2003 | #15,784 | 5 | #2,620 | 38 |
| 2002 | #13,595 | 6 | #2,632 | 36 |
| 2001 | — | #2,520 | 38 | |
| 2000 | #13,154 | 6 | #2,805 | 32 |
| 1999 | — | #2,722 | 31 | |
| 1998 | #14,122 | 5 | #2,599 | 32 |
| 1997 | — | #4,960 | 12 | |
| 1996 | — | #3,830 | 17 | |
| 1995 | — | #4,052 | 15 | |
| 1994 | — | #5,452 | 10 | |
| 1993 | — | #4,697 | 12 | |
| 1992 | — | #6,670 | 7 | |
| 1991 | — | #7,271 | 6 | |
| 1990 | — | #4,993 | 10 | |
| 1989 | — | #7,905 | 5 | |
| 1988 | — | — | ||
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| 1980 | — | #5,525 | 6 | |
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| 1969 | — | #4,404 | 5 | |
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| 1880 | — | — | ||
The first year at least five boys were named Zen! It came in at #4,404, and was given to 5 baby boys.
Quietest stretch: 1969–1979, when fewer than 6 boys a year got the name.
Where Zen is popular in 2020
- Rank in state
- Top 10
- 11–50
- 51–100
- 101–500
- 501+
- Not published
Hover or tap a state for its numbers.
- Hawaii#243 · 1 in 691
- Arizona#659 · 1 in 3,995
- California#791 · 1 in 6,321
- Maryland#810 · 1 in 5,013
- North Carolina#864 · 1 in 6,118
Best ever in a state: #214 in Hawaii, 2024.
Show every state
| State | Rank | Births | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hawaii | #243 | 5 | 1 in 691 |
| Arizona | #659 | 8 | 1 in 3,995 |
| California | #791 | 30 | 1 in 6,321 |
| Maryland | #810 | 5 | 1 in 5,013 |
| North Carolina | #864 | 8 | 1 in 6,118 |
| Florida | #887 | 14 | 1 in 6,444 |
| Georgia | #936 | 8 | 1 in 6,284 |
| New Jersey | #983 | 5 | 1 in 7,863 |
| Ohio | #1,115 | 6 | 1 in 9,081 |
| New York | #1,117 | 10 | 1 in 8,765 |
| Texas | #1,411 | 12 | 1 in 14,104 |
| Alabama | — | — | — |
| Alaska | — | — | — |
| Arkansas | — | — | — |
| Colorado | — | — | — |
| Connecticut | — | — | — |
| Delaware | — | — | — |
| District of Columbia | — | — | — |
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| Wyoming | — | — | — |
Ranks are within each state; “1 in N” is out of the boys born there that year. The SSA only publishes a name in a state when 5 or more babies of one sex got it.
See more about Zen
- 186 spots since 2024 (#955 → #1,141)
- 55 spots since 2020 (#1,196 → #1,141)
- 790 spots since 2015 (#1,931 → #1,141)
- Biggest jump: 277 spots in 2022 (#1,182 → #905)
- Biggest drop: 186 spots in 2025 (#955 → #1,141)
- Debuted 1969
- Peaked 2022 at #905 (256 births)
- Not yet halved from its peak
- Top 10: never
- Top 100: never
- Top 1,000: 3 yrs · run 2022–2024
- Highest: 1 in 6,820 boys born in 2022 were named Zen (0.01%)
- Latest: 1 in 9,233 boys born in 2025 (0.01%)
- 45.9% of all boys named Zen (1,247) were born in this decade
- The majority has never changed
Show by decade
| Decade | Births | Best rank | Avg rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 5 | #4,404 (1969) | #4,404 |
| 1970s | 0 | — | — |
| 1980s | 11 | #5,525 (1980) | #6,715 |
| 1990s | 152 | #2,599 (1998) | #4,725 |
| 2000s | 492 | #1,932 (2008) | #2,390 |
| 2010s | 811 | #1,386 (2019) | #1,892 |
| 2020s | 1,247 | #905 (2022) | #1,052 |
All figures count published births only (names given to at least 5 boys in a year). Registrations before 1937 are incomplete, so early shares and totals run low.
Zen in 2020
Top girls' names in 2020
Top boys' names in 2020
More about 2020
girls
1,616,549 girls got a published name in 2020; 1 in 33,678 of them was named Zen, which outranked 81.6% of the 17,527 girls' names that year. The ten most popular names covered 7.9% of girls (24.6% in 1880, 7.0% in 2025).
- #3,179Syeda49
- #3,179Teaghan49
- #3,179Trisha49
- #3,221Zen48
- #3,221Abagail48
- #3,221Adelin48
- #3,221Alaura48
- #3,281Acadia47
- #3,281Aine47
- #3,281Aisley47
Tied with 59 names at #3,221; 3 shown. Tied names share a rank, as in SSA's lists.
Among names in the top 1,000 of either year.
boys
1,726,076 boys got a published name in 2020; 1 in 10,788 of them was named Zen, which outranked 91.5% of the 14,060 boys' names that year. The ten most popular names covered 7.9% of boys (44.2% in 1880, 8.0% in 2025).
- #1,189Skylar162
- #1,194Isai161
- #1,194Seamus161
- #1,196Zen160
- #1,196Cayde160
- #1,196Pharaoh160
- #1,196Reagan160
- #1,200Zeus159
- #1,201Cedar158
- #1,201Gian158
Tied names share a rank, as in SSA's lists.
- ↓ 380Vivaan#875 → #1,255
- ↓ 282Alexzander#890 → #1,172
- ↓ 268Reyansh#806 → #1,074
- ↓ 266Javion#949 → #1,215
- ↓ 224Kenny#862 → #1,086
Among names in the top 1,000 of either year.