Zehava
A feminine Hebrew name meaning "radiance", "brilliance", or "golden glow".
Name Census estimates that about 137 living Americans carry the first name Zehava. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Zehava today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zehava births was 2015 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zehava. 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
137
~ 1 in 2,501,856 Americans
Peak year
2015
10 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,227
Tracked since 1988
Census
Zehava in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 221 people with the first name Zehava, which placed it at #36,071 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
#36,071
National first-name rank
People counted
221
221 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
91.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Zehava
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zehava is White at 91.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.7%) and Black (1.8%). 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 Zehava 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 Zehava at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.9% · 203
- Hispanic or Latino2.7% · 6
- Black or African American1.8% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 4
- Two or more races1.4% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 1
Popularity
Zehava: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zehava 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 61 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Zehava remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zehava 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 Zehava during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Zehavas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Zehava
The name Zehava is a Hebrew name with roots that can be traced back to ancient Semitic languages. It is derived from the Hebrew word "zahav," which means gold. The name gained popularity in the Middle Ages and continues to be a common Jewish name today.
In the Bible, gold is often associated with wisdom, wealth, and purity. The name Zehava may have been given to girls in the hope that they would embody these qualities. The name first appeared in historical records in the 11th century, when it was mentioned in a Jewish chronicle from the city of Cairo.
One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name Zehava was Zehava bat Sarah, a Jewish scholar who lived in the 12th century in the city of Fez, Morocco. She was known for her expertise in the Talmud and Jewish law.
In the 16th century, Zehava bat Yitzchak was a prominent Jewish mystic and Kabbalist who lived in the city of Safed, in what is now Israel. She was known for her deep spiritual insights and her contributions to the study of Kabbalah.
Another notable figure in Jewish history was Zehava bat Yehuda, a 17th-century poet and scholar from the city of Amsterdam. She was known for her literary talents and her contributions to the study of Hebrew poetry.
In the 19th century, Zehava Baumfeld was a prominent Jewish educator and author who lived in the city of Odessa, in what is now Ukraine. She wrote several books on Jewish history and culture and worked to promote education among Jewish women.
One of the most famous bearers of the name Zehava in modern times was Zehava Golan, an Israeli actress and singer who was born in 1923 and passed away in 2005. She was known for her roles in several classic Israeli films and her contributions to the Israeli cultural scene.
People
Zehava + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zehava 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
Zehava: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zehava?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 137 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zehava 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 2,501,856 US residents.
Is Zehava a common name?
We classify Zehava as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 139 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zehava most popular?
The single biggest year for Zehava was 2015, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zehava is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Zehava in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 221 people with the name Zehava, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #36,071 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 Zehava 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 Zehava?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Zehava appears almost entirely female. Of the 219 people counted with this name, 99.1% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Zehava?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zehava is White at 91.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.7%) and Black (1.8%). 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 Zehava most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Zehava in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.9% (203 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 Zehava in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zehava a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zehava in the SSA data are female. 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 Zehava still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zehava 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 Zehava 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 Zehava as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Zehava on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.