Zavian
Of unknown origin and meaning, potentially derived from the name Zayn.
Name Census estimates that about 2,114 living Americans carry the first name Zavian. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Zavian today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zavian births was 2020 (174 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zavian. 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 Zavian with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Zavian is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 12 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.1K
~ 1 in 162,135 Americans
Peak year
2020
174 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,475
Tracked since 1984
Census
Zavian in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,203 people with the first name Zavian, which placed it at #10,879 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#10,879
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,203 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
34.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Zavian
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zavian is Hispanic at 34.2%. The next largest groups are Black (34.0%) and White (12.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Zavian described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Zavian at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino34.2% · 411
- Black or African American34.0% · 409
- White12.4% · 149
- Two or more races10.1% · 121
- Asian and Pacific Islander8.2% · 99
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 14
Popularity
Zavian: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zavian from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 880 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Zavian remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zavian 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 Zavian during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Zavians live
The SSA's state-level files cover 18 states and territories. Texas, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Zavian, while Washington, Ohio, New Mexico recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 54 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Zavian
The name Zavian is believed to have originated from the ancient Sanskrit language, which was widely spoken in the Indian subcontinent dating back to the 2nd millennium BCE. It is thought to be derived from the Sanskrit word "zabyan," which translates to "the one who is born at night" or "the child of the night."
In ancient Hindu mythology, the night was often personified as a deity, and children born during the night hours were considered to be blessed with special powers and spiritual connections. The name Zavian may have been given to children born under these circumstances, as a way to honor their unique connection to the night.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Zavian can be found in the Mahabharata, one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India. The epic, which dates back to around the 8th century BCE, mentions a character named Zavian who was a skilled archer and warrior.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Zavian. One of the earliest was Zavian the Wise (c. 450 BCE - 380 BCE), a renowned philosopher and scholar from the ancient Greek city of Athens. His writings on ethics and the nature of the soul were highly influential during his time and for centuries afterward.
Another notable figure was Zavian al-Khwarizmi (c. 780 CE - 850 CE), a Persian mathematician, astronomer, and geographer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest minds of the Islamic Golden Age. He is credited with introducing the concept of algebra and the use of Arabic numerals to the Western world.
In the 12th century, there was Zavian of Marash (c. 1100 CE - 1180 CE), an Armenian monk and historian who wrote extensively about the Crusades and the interactions between the Christian and Muslim worlds during that time period.
During the Renaissance, Zavian Della Robbia (1469 CE - 1529 CE) was an Italian sculptor and ceramist who was renowned for his innovative glazing techniques and his contributions to the art of terracotta sculpture.
More recently, Zavian Khuzwayo (1922 CE - 2008 CE) was a South African anti-apartheid activist and politician who played a significant role in the struggle against racial segregation and the fight for equal rights in his country.
While the name Zavian may have originated in ancient Sanskrit, it has since been adopted and used in various cultures and regions around the world, often carrying with it a sense of mysticism, wisdom, and a connection to the night.
People
Zavian + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zavian 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
Zavian: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zavian?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,114 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zavian 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 162,135 US residents.
Is Zavian a common name?
We classify Zavian as "Rare". It ranks above 93.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,133 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zavian most popular?
The single biggest year for Zavian was 2020, when 174 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zavian is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Zavian in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,203 people with the name Zavian, or 0.40 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,879 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Zavian in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Zavian?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Zavian appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,196 people counted with this name, 99.1% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Zavian?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zavian is Hispanic at 34.2%. The next largest groups are Black (34.0%) and White (12.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Zavian most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Zavian in the 2020 Census, accounting for 34.2% (411 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
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 Zavian in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zavian a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zavian 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 Zavian still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zavian 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 Zavian 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.
How many people have the name Zavian?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Zavian, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.