Zellie
A feminine diminutive form of Zelda, ultimately derived from Germanic elements meaning "gray battle" or "gray fighter".
Name Census estimates that about 128 living Americans carry the first name Zellie. It is a predominantly female name (98.1% of registrations). The average person named Zellie today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zellie births was 1918 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zellie. 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
128
~ 1 in 2,677,768 Americans
Peak year
1918
17 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
1918 SSA rank
#4,811
Tracked since 1897
Census
Zellie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 176 people with the first name Zellie, which placed it at #41,537 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
#41,537
National first-name rank
People counted
176
176 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
57.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Zellie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zellie is White at 57.4%. The next largest groups are Black (27.3%) and Hispanic (7.4%). 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 Zellie 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 Zellie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White57.4% · 101
- Black or African American27.3% · 48
- Hispanic or Latino7.4% · 13
- Two or more races4.5% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.8% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Zellie
Zellie leans heavily female at 98.1% of total registrations, but 5 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Zellie as a male name
- Ranked #4,811 in 1918
- 5 male births in 1918
- Peak: 1918 (5 births)
Zellie as a female name
- Ranked #12,107 in 2024
- 8 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1918 (12 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Zellie leans strongly female. 152 people counted with this name were female (86.9%), compared with 23 male bearers (13.1%).
Popularity
Zellie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zellie from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 68 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Zellie remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zellie 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 Zellie 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 Zellie
The name Zellie is a diminutive form of the name Zelda, which has its origins in the Germanic language. Zelda is derived from the Old German word "selida," meaning "blessed home" or "happy home." Zellie is a more modern and playful variation of this name, often used as a nickname or pet name.
The earliest recorded use of the name Zellie dates back to the late 19th century, although the name Zelda had been in use for much longer. One of the most famous bearers of the name Zelda was Zelda Fitzgerald, the wife of the celebrated American author F. Scott Fitzgerald. She was born in 1900 and lived until 1948.
Another notable Zellie was Zellie Blake, an American actress born in 1920 who appeared in several films and television shows in the mid-20th century. She is best known for her roles in the films "The Thin Man Goes Home" (1945) and "The Falcon in Hollywood" (1944).
In the world of literature, Zellie Polgreene was a character in the novel "The Bingo Palace" by Louise Erdrich, published in 1994. The name Zellie was chosen for this character to reflect her unconventional and free-spirited nature.
In the realm of music, Zellie Zellie was the stage name of a Brazilian singer and songwriter born in 1949. She was known for her unique blend of samba and pop music and gained popularity in the 1970s and 1980s.
Lastly, Zellie Fawcett was a British children's book author and illustrator who lived from 1919 to 2008. She authored several popular books for young readers, including the "Sassoon" series and "The Little Nut Tree."
While not as common as some other names, Zellie has a rich history and has been borne by a diverse range of individuals throughout the decades, from writers and artists to entertainers and authors.
People
Zellie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zellie 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
Zellie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zellie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 128 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zellie 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 2,677,768 US residents.
Is Zellie a common name?
We classify Zellie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 68.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 261 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zellie most popular?
The single biggest year for Zellie was 1918, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zellie is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Zellie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 176 people with the name Zellie, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #41,537 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 Zellie 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 Zellie?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Zellie leans strongly female. 152 people counted with this name were female (86.9%), compared with 23 male bearers (13.1%). 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 Zellie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zellie is White at 57.4%. The next largest groups are Black (27.3%) and Hispanic (7.4%). 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 Zellie most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Zellie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.4% (101 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 Zellie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zellie a female name?
Yes, 98.1% of people registered as Zellie 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 Zellie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zellie 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 Zellie 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 Zellie as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Zellie on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.