Ziad
An Arabic masculine name meaning "increase" or "growth".
Name Census estimates that about 1,053 living Americans carry the first name Ziad. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ziad today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ziad births was 2019 (44 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ziad. 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 Ziad with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 325,503 Americans
Peak year
2019
44 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,973
Tracked since 1974
Census
Ziad in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,321 people with the first name Ziad, which placed it at #6,792 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
#6,792
National first-name rank
People counted
2.3K
2,321 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
85.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ziad
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ziad is White at 85.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.6%) and Black (3.9%). 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 Ziad 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 Ziad at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.4% · 1,982
- Two or more races4.6% · 106
- Black or African American3.9% · 91
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.6% · 83
- Hispanic or Latino2.4% · 56
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 3
Popularity
Ziad: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ziad from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 345 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Ziad remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ziad 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 Ziad during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ziads live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. California, New York, Florida recorded the most babies named Ziad, while Virginia, Texas, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 15 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ziad
The name Ziad is an Arabic name that dates back to the 7th century. It is derived from the Arabic root word "zad," which means "provision" or "sustenance." The name is believed to have originated in the Middle East, particularly in the Arabian Peninsula.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Ziad can be found in the Qur'an, the holy book of Islam. In the Qur'an, the word "zad" is mentioned several times, often in the context of providing sustenance for a journey or a means of support.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Ziad. One of the earliest recorded figures was Ziad ibn Abih, an Arab military commander and governor who lived in the 7th century. He played a significant role in the Muslim conquest of Persia and served as the governor of Basra, one of the most important cities in the early Muslim empire.
Another famous Ziad in history was Ziad Al-Nesseri, a renowned Arab poet and literary figure who lived in the 10th century. He was known for his mastery of the Arabic language and his contributions to the development of Arabic literature.
In the 12th century, Ziad Al-Din Al-Razi was a prominent Persian philosopher, physician, and polymath. He made significant contributions to various fields, including medicine, physics, and chemistry, and is considered one of the most influential thinkers of the Islamic Golden Age.
During the 20th century, Ziad Rahbani was a renowned Lebanese composer, playwright, and musician. Born in 1956, he was part of the famous Rahbani family and was widely celebrated for his contributions to Arabic music and theater.
Another notable figure with the name Ziad was Ziad Jarrah, a Lebanese hijacker who was one of the perpetrators of the September 11th attacks in 2001. He was one of the hijackers aboard United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
While the name Ziad has its roots in the Arabic language and culture, it has gained popularity and recognition across various regions and communities around the world. The name continues to be used today, carrying with it the meaning of sustenance and provision, reflecting its historical origins.
People
Ziad + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ziad 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
Ziad: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ziad?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,053 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ziad 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 325,503 US residents.
Is Ziad a common name?
We classify Ziad as "Rare". It ranks above 90.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,071 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ziad most popular?
The single biggest year for Ziad was 2019, when 44 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ziad is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ziad in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,321 people with the name Ziad, or 0.77 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,792 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 Ziad 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 Ziad?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ziad appears almost entirely male. Of the 2,323 people counted with this name, 99.4% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Ziad?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ziad is White at 85.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.6%) and Black (3.9%). 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 Ziad most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ziad in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.4% (1,982 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 Ziad in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ziad a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ziad 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 Ziad still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ziad 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 Ziad 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 the name Ziad?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.