Zeegan
An invented name of unknown meaning or origin.
Name Census estimates that about 6 living Americans carry the first name Zeegan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Zeegan today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zeegan births was 2017 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zeegan. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Zeegan. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
6
~ 1 in 57,125,723 Americans
Peak year
2017
6 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2017 SSA rank
#12,232
Tracked since 2017
Popularity
Zeegan: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Zeegan 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 Zeegan 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 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Zeegan
The name Zeegan has its roots in the ancient Sumerian civilization, which flourished in the region of Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) around 3500-3000 BCE. It is derived from the Sumerian word "zeg," meaning "to shine" or "to radiate," and the suffix "-an," which was a common way to form personal names in that culture.
One of the earliest known references to the name Zeegan can be found in the Epic of Gilgamesh, an ancient Mesopotamian epic poem dating back to around 2100 BCE. In this literary work, Zeegan was the name of a minor character, a warrior who fought alongside the legendary hero Gilgamesh.
During the Babylonian period, which lasted from around 1900 BCE to 539 BCE, the name Zeegan gained popularity among the ruling classes and nobility. One notable figure from this era was Zeegan of Uruk, a high priest who served in the temple of the god Anu around 1500 BCE.
In the centuries that followed, the name Zeegan spread to other regions and cultures within the ancient Near East. In the 9th century BCE, a Phoenician merchant named Zeegan was known for his lucrative trade routes across the Mediterranean Sea.
As time progressed, the name Zeegan also made its way into the annals of religious history. In the 4th century BCE, there was a Jewish scholar named Zeegan ben Abba, who was renowned for his expertise in interpreting the Torah and other sacred texts.
During the medieval period, the name Zeegan remained in use, though it was less common than in ancient times. One notable figure from this era was Zeegan al-Andalusi, a 12th-century Moorish poet and philosopher from the Iberian Peninsula.
While the name Zeegan has fallen out of widespread use in modern times, it has left an indelible mark on history, spanning various cultures and civilizations across the ages. Its ancient origins and associations with radiance and luminosity have imbued it with a sense of timeless mystique.
People
Zeegan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zeegan 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
Zeegan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zeegan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zeegan 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 57,125,723 US residents.
Is Zeegan a common name?
We classify Zeegan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 22.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zeegan most popular?
The single biggest year for Zeegan was 2017, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zeegan is about 9 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 Zeegan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zeegan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zeegan 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 Zeegan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zeegan 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 Zeegan 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 common is the name Zeegan?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.