Zivah
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "radiance" or "brilliance".
Name Census estimates that about 327 living Americans carry the first name Zivah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Zivah today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zivah births was 2021 (32 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zivah. 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 Zivah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
327
~ 1 in 1,048,178 Americans
Peak year
2021
32 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,417
Tracked since 2009
Popularity
Zivah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zivah from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 195 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Zivah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zivah 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 Zivah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Zivahs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Zivah
The given name Zivah is believed to have originated from the Hebrew language. It is derived from the Hebrew word "זִוָה" (zivah), which means "radiance" or "splendor". The name is thought to have been in use since ancient times in the region of the Levant, which includes modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and parts of Syria and Jordan.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Zivah can be found in the Talmud, a central text of Rabbinic Judaism. The Talmud mentions a figure named Zivah ben Levi, who lived in the 3rd century CE and was a renowned Jewish scholar and teacher.
In the 11th century, a Jewish philosopher and theologian named Zivah ben Jacob al-Barceloni lived in Spain. He is known for his work on Jewish ethics and his commentary on the Torah.
During the 16th century, a woman named Zivah Montefiore was born in Italy. She was a member of the prominent Montefiore family and played a significant role in the Jewish community of her time.
In the 19th century, a man named Zivah Hirsch Kalischer was born in Poland. He was a influential rabbi and a proponent of the Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel, which later contributed to the Zionist movement.
Another notable figure with the name Zivah was Zivah Aridor, an Israeli politician and activist who served as a member of the Knesset (the Israeli parliament) in the 1970s and 1980s. She was born in 1922 and played a crucial role in promoting women's rights and social issues in Israel.
While the name Zivah has its roots in ancient Hebrew, it has been used across various Jewish communities throughout history, spanning different regions and time periods. The name's meaning, "radiance" or "splendor", has likely contributed to its enduring popularity and use over the centuries.
People
Zivah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zivah 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
Zivah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zivah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 327 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zivah 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 1,048,178 US residents.
Is Zivah a common name?
We classify Zivah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 329 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zivah most popular?
The single biggest year for Zivah was 2021, when 32 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zivah is about 8 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 Zivah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zivah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zivah 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 Zivah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zivah 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 Zivah 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 share the name Zivah?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.