Zayde
A Yiddish masculine name derived from the German "Zeide" meaning grandfather.
Name Census estimates that about 496 living Americans carry the first name Zayde. It is a predominantly male name (91.4% of registrations). The average person named Zayde today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zayde births was 2022 (53 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zayde. 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 Zayde with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
496
~ 1 in 691,037 Americans
Peak year
2022
53 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,703
Tracked since 2002
Census
Zayde in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 335 people with the first name Zayde, which placed it at #27,353 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
#27,353
National first-name rank
People counted
335
335 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
43.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Zayde
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zayde is White at 43.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (32.5%) and Black (11.3%). 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 Zayde 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 Zayde at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White43.0% · 144
- Hispanic or Latino32.5% · 109
- Black or African American11.3% · 38
- Two or more races8.4% · 28
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.4% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.4% · 8
Gender
Gender distribution for Zayde
Zayde leans heavily male at 91.4% of total registrations, but 43 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Zayde as a male name
- Ranked #2,703 in 2024
- 49 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (49 births)
Zayde as a female name
- Ranked #17,711 in 2022
- 5 female births in 2022
- Peak: 2019 (8 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Zayde on both sides of the split. Of the 329 people counted with this name, 244 were male (74.2%) and 85 were female (25.8%).
Popularity
Zayde: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zayde from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 240 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zayde 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 Zayde during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Zaydes live
Origin
Meaning and history of Zayde
The given name Zayde has its origins in the Yiddish language, which is a fusion of several Germanic and Slavic dialects spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. The name is derived from the Yiddish word "zeyde," which means "grandfather" or "elder." This suggests that the name was likely bestowed upon individuals with a sense of reverence or respect.
In the Jewish tradition, the name Zayde was often given to male children as a way of honoring their grandfathers or other esteemed elders within the community. It was a common practice to name children after deceased relatives as a way of keeping their memories alive, and the name Zayde likely held a special significance in this regard.
While the name does not have a direct reference in ancient texts or religious scriptures, its origin can be traced back to the Middle Ages, when Yiddish became the primary language of Ashkenazi Jews living in Central and Eastern Europe. The earliest recorded instances of the name Zayde can be found in various historical records from this region, dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries.
One of the earliest notable individuals to bear the name Zayde was Zayde ben Yitzchak, a prominent Talmudic scholar who lived in Poland during the late 16th century. He was renowned for his expertise in Jewish law and his teachings on the Talmud, which were widely studied and respected within the Jewish community.
Another famous Zayde was Zayde Wolfe (1698-1795), a Jewish merchant and philanthropist from Germany. He was known for his generosity and commitment to supporting Jewish education and charitable causes, and his legacy continues to be celebrated within the German Jewish community.
In the 19th century, Zayde Hirsch (1808-1888) was a notable figure in the Jewish Enlightenment movement, also known as the Haskalah. He was a writer, educator, and advocate for modernizing Jewish education and integrating secular studies into traditional Jewish curricula.
More recently, Zayde Schmeidler (1901-1974) was a renowned Yiddish actor and director who played a significant role in preserving and promoting Yiddish theater and culture. He was particularly celebrated for his performances in the works of classic Yiddish playwrights, such as Sholem Aleichem and I.L. Peretz.
Lastly, Zayde Abrahams (1922-2000) was a prominent South African lawyer and human rights activist who played a crucial role in the fight against apartheid. He defended many political activists and advocated for racial equality and social justice, earning him widespread respect and admiration both within and beyond the Jewish community.
People
Zayde + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zayde 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
Zayde: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zayde?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 496 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zayde 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 691,037 US residents.
Is Zayde a common name?
We classify Zayde as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 500 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zayde most popular?
The single biggest year for Zayde was 2022, when 53 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zayde is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Zayde in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 335 people with the name Zayde, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #27,353 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 Zayde 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 Zayde?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Zayde on both sides of the split. Of the 329 people counted with this name, 244 were male (74.2%) and 85 were female (25.8%). 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 Zayde?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zayde is White at 43.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (32.5%) and Black (11.3%). 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 Zayde most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Zayde in the 2020 Census, accounting for 43.0% (144 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 Zayde in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zayde a male name?
Yes, 91.4% of people registered as Zayde 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 Zayde still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zayde 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 Zayde 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 are named Zayde?
Find out how many people share the name Zayde on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.