Zevy
A Hebrew name derived from the Biblical place name Ziv, meaning "light" or "brightness".
Name Census estimates that about 13 living Americans carry the first name Zevy. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Zevy today is around 4 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zevy births was 2024 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zevy. 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 Zevy with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Zevy. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
13
~ 1 in 26,365,718 Americans
Peak year
2024
8 babies that year
Average age
4
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,852
Tracked since 2020
Popularity
Zevy: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Zevy 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 Zevy during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 13 | 0 | 13 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Zevy
The given name Zevy has its origins in the ancient Semitic languages of the Middle East, particularly in the region known today as the Levant. Scholars trace its roots back to the Proto-Semitic word "zv," which meant "to move" or "to wander." This linguistic connection suggests that the name may have originally been associated with nomadic tribes or travelers.
In early Hebrew texts, the name appears as "Zavdi," which is believed to be a variant spelling of Zevy. One of the earliest recorded individuals with this name was Zavdi the Shiphmite, a warrior mentioned in the Book of 1 Chronicles in the Hebrew Bible, dated to around the 5th century BCE.
During the Hellenistic period, the name underwent a transformation as it spread across the Mediterranean region. In Greek records, it appears as "Zeuos" or "Zeuios," reflecting the influence of the Greek language on the original Semitic form.
One of the most notable historical figures named Zevy was a Jewish scholar and philosopher from the 11th century CE. Zevy ben Jacob Anatoli, born in Calabria, Italy, was renowned for his commentaries on the works of Aristotle and his contributions to the study of Jewish mysticism.
In the 13th century, a prominent rabbi and biblical commentator named Zevy ben Yitzchak of Annecy, born in France, gained recognition for his influential work on the Torah and Talmud.
Another significant figure was Zevy Ashkenazi, a 16th-century Jewish scholar and kabbalist from Palestine, who was known for his writings on Jewish mysticism and his role in the development of the Lurianic Kabbalah tradition.
During the Renaissance period, a Italian painter and architect named Zevy da Garofalo, born in Ferrara in 1476, gained fame for his contributions to the art world, particularly his religious paintings and frescoes adorning churches in Italy.
In the 19th century, Zevy Hirsch Kalischer, a German rabbi and scholar born in 1795, played a pivotal role in the early Zionist movement, advocating for the return of Jews to the Land of Israel and the establishment of a Jewish homeland.
People
Zevy + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zevy 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
Zevy: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zevy?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 13 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zevy 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 26,365,718 US residents.
Is Zevy a common name?
We classify Zevy as "Very Rare". It ranks above 33.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 13 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zevy most popular?
The single biggest year for Zevy was 2024, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zevy is about 4 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 Zevy in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zevy a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zevy 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 Zevy still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zevy 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 Zevy 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 many people have Zevy as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.