Zelda
A feminine name of German origin meaning "woman's defender or protector".
Name Census estimates that about 8,678 living Americans carry the first name Zelda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Zelda today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zelda births was 2020 (526 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zelda. 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
8.7K
~ 1 in 39,497 Americans
Peak year
2020
526 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
1932 SSA rank
#748
Tracked since 1880
Gender
Gender distribution for Zelda
Out of the 16,411 babies given the name Zelda since 1880, 100.0% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Zelda as a male name
- Ranked #4,281 in 1932
- 5 male births in 1932
- Peak: 1932 (5 births)
Zelda as a female name
- Ranked #748 in 2024
- 376 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2020 (526 births)
Popularity
Zelda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zelda from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 2,889 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Zelda remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zelda 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 Zelda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Zeldas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 42 states and territories. New York, Texas, California recorded the most babies named Zelda, while South Dakota, North Dakota, Hawaii recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 259 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Zelda
The name Zelda has its roots in the Germanic languages, derived from the Old German words "Zell" meaning "home" or "shelter" and "hilt" meaning "battle" or "fight". It was initially a surname, but over time transitioned into a given name.
In the medieval period, the name Zelda emerged as a feminine form of the Germanic name Zeltan, which was borne by several minor nobility in regions like modern-day Germany and the Netherlands. One of the earliest recorded instances is from a 12th-century chronicle mentioning a noblewoman named Zelda von Bamberg.
While not a common biblical name, some scholars suggest a possible connection to the Hebrew name Seldah, mentioned in the Book of Ezra as a town near Jerusalem. However, this proposed link is tenuous and not widely accepted.
Historically, the name Zelda gained prominence in the 19th century when it was adopted by several writers and artists. Among the notable figures was Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald (1900-1948), the wife of the famous American author F. Scott Fitzgerald. Her independent spirit and unconventional lifestyle made her a cultural icon of the Jazz Age.
Another famous Zelda was Zelda Rubinstein (1933-2010), an American actress best known for her role as Tangina in the Poltergeist film series. Despite her diminutive stature, she had a successful career spanning several decades.
In the world of literature, Zelda Popkin (1898-1983) was a Russian-American writer and translator who helped introduce the works of Boris Pasternak and Anna Akhmatova to English-speaking audiences.
Zelda Kaplan (1923-2012) was an American activist and liberal politician who served as the first female president of New York City's Liberal Party and advocated for women's rights, civil rights, and peace movements.
Zelda Wynn Valdes (1905-2001) was a celebrated African-American fashion designer and costumer, known for designing outfits for prominent figures like Josephine Baker and Eartha Kitt in the 1940s and 1950s.
While not as common as some other names, Zelda has maintained a consistent presence throughout history, particularly in the arts and literature, often associated with independent, unconventional, and creative individuals.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Zelda
People
Zelda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zelda 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
Zelda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zelda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 8,678 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zelda 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 39,497 US residents.
Is Zelda a common name?
We classify Zelda as "Rare". It ranks above 97.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 16,411 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zelda most popular?
The single biggest year for Zelda was 2020, when 526 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zelda is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Zelda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zelda 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.
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.