Zaraan
An Arabic name meaning "he who spreads light".
Name Census estimates that about 12 living Americans carry the first name Zaraan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Zaraan today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zaraan births was 2015 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zaraan. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Zaraan with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Zaraan. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
12
~ 1 in 28,562,862 Americans
Peak year
2015
6 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2017 SSA rank
#12,226
Tracked since 2015
Popularity
Zaraan: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Zaraan by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Zaraan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 12 | 0 | 12 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Zaraan
The name Zaraan has its origins in the ancient Persian language, tracing back to the Achaemenid Empire of the 6th century BCE. It is derived from the Old Persian word "zaraana," which means "golden" or "radiant." This name was often associated with the sun and its warm, golden rays.
During the reign of the Achaemenid Empire, which stretched from modern-day Iran to parts of Central Asia and the Middle East, the name Zaraan gained popularity among the noble classes and was often bestowed upon children as a symbol of prosperity and good fortune.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Zaraan can be found in the Achaemenid royal inscriptions at Persepolis, where it appears as the name of a high-ranking official during the reign of Darius the Great (550-486 BCE).
In ancient Persian literature, the name Zaraan is mentioned in the epic poem "Shahnameh" by the renowned poet Ferdowsi (940-1020 CE). The poem tells the story of a valiant warrior named Zaraan who fought alongside the legendary hero Rostam.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Zaraan. One such person was Zaraan ibn Khayr al-Hamdani (893-971 CE), a celebrated Persian poet and scholar from the Hamdanid dynasty. His poetry was widely acclaimed for its exquisite imagery and deep philosophical insights.
Another prominent figure was Zaraan Khalili (1211-1292 CE), a revered Sufi mystic and spiritual teacher from Khwarezm, a historical region in modern-day Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. He was renowned for his profound wisdom and his teachings on the path of divine love and self-knowledge.
In the 15th century, Zaraan al-Din Tusi (1401-1469 CE) was a prominent Persian mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher. He made significant contributions to the development of trigonometry and wrote extensively on various scientific and philosophical subjects.
During the Safavid Dynasty in Persia (1501-1736 CE), the name Zaraan gained further popularity, and one notable figure was Zaraan Beg Khan (1542-1615 CE), a high-ranking military commander and governor who played a crucial role in expanding the empire's territories.
While the name Zaraan has ancient roots in Persian culture, it has also been adopted and adapted in other regions, particularly in Central Asia and parts of the Indian subcontinent, where it has been influenced by local linguistic and cultural traditions.
People
Zaraan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zaraan as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with Z
Other first names starting with Z with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Zaraan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zaraan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 12 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zaraan going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 28,562,862 US residents.
Is Zaraan a common name?
We classify Zaraan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 32.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 12 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zaraan most popular?
The single biggest year for Zaraan was 2015, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zaraan is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Zaraan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zaraan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zaraan in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Zaraan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zaraan in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Zaraan can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have the name Zaraan?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Zaraan, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.