Zavon
A unique name of uncertain origin and meaning.
Name Census estimates that about 238 living Americans carry the first name Zavon. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Zavon today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zavon births was 2002 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zavon. 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.
People living today
238
~ 1 in 1,440,144 Americans
Peak year
2002
12 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,871
Tracked since 1993
Census
Zavon in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 183 people with the first name Zavon, which placed it at #40,598 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
#40,598
National first-name rank
People counted
183
183 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
78.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Zavon
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zavon is Black at 78.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (9.8%) and Hispanic (6.6%). 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 Zavon 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 Zavon at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American78.1% · 143
- Two or more races9.8% · 18
- Hispanic or Latino6.6% · 12
- White3.8% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 1
Popularity
Zavon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zavon from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 84 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Zavon remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zavon 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 Zavon during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Zavon
The given name Zavon has its origins in the ancient Semitic languages of the Middle East, particularly in the Aramaic and Arabic tongues spoken in the region during the early centuries of the common era. The name is believed to be derived from the Aramaic root word "zavin," which means "to move" or "to travel," reflecting the nomadic lifestyle of the ancient Semitic peoples.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Zavon can be found in the Babylonian Talmud, a central text of Rabbinic Judaism compiled between the 3rd and 5th centuries CE. The Talmud mentions a sage named Zavon ben Levi, who lived in the 3rd century CE and was renowned for his teachings on Jewish law and ethics.
In the Islamic tradition, the name Zavon appears in several historical accounts and chronicles from the 7th century onwards. One notable figure bearing this name was Zavon al-Attar, a renowned Arab physician and scholar who lived during the 9th century CE and made significant contributions to the fields of medicine and philosophy.
During the medieval period, the name Zavon was particularly popular among the Jewish communities of the Middle East and North Africa. One prominent individual was Zavon ibn Ezra, a 12th-century Jewish philosopher and poet from Granada, Spain, who wrote extensively on religious and ethical topics.
In the Renaissance era, the name Zavon gained further recognition through the works of the Italian humanist scholar Zavon Calderini, who lived from 1444 to 1508 and was renowned for his commentaries on classical Latin literature.
Another notable figure was Zavon Muzhir, a 16th-century Ottoman Turkish poet and mystic, whose works explored themes of spirituality and devotion. His poems and teachings had a significant influence on the Sufi tradition in the Ottoman Empire.
As the name Zavon transcended cultural and linguistic boundaries, it continued to be adopted and celebrated by various communities around the world. One such example is Zavon Kortowski, a 19th-century Polish artist and painter known for his landscapes and portraiture.
While the name Zavon may have ancient roots, its enduring appeal and cultural significance have ensured its continuous use throughout history, making it a testament to the rich tapestry of human civilization and the diverse traditions that have shaped our world.
People
Zavon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zavon 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
Zavon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zavon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 238 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zavon 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 1,440,144 US residents.
Is Zavon a common name?
We classify Zavon as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 241 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zavon most popular?
The single biggest year for Zavon was 2002, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zavon is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Zavon in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 183 people with the name Zavon, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #40,598 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 Zavon 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 Zavon?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Zavon leans strongly male. 183 people counted with this name were male (95.8%), compared with 8 female bearers (4.2%). 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 Zavon?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zavon is Black at 78.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (9.8%) and Hispanic (6.6%). 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 Zavon most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Zavon in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.1% (143 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 Zavon in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zavon a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zavon 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 Zavon still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zavon 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 Zavon 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 share the name Zavon?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.