Ziyon
Ziyon is a Hebrew name meaning "marking" or "signpost."
Name Census estimates that about 946 living Americans carry the first name Ziyon. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 88.6% of registrations being male. The average person named Ziyon today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ziyon births was 2010 (71 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ziyon. 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
946
~ 1 in 362,320 Americans
Peak year
2010
71 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,263
Tracked since 1999
Gender
Gender distribution for Ziyon
Ziyon leans heavily male at 88.6% of total registrations, but 109 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Ziyon as a male name
- Ranked #3,263 in 2024
- 37 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2010 (57 births)
Ziyon as a female name
- Ranked #8,867 in 2016
- 13 female births in 2016
- Peak: 2010 (14 births)
Popularity
Ziyon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ziyon from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 504 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Ziyon remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ziyon 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 Ziyon during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ziyons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. Florida, North Carolina, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Ziyon, while Alabama, Maryland, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 18 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ziyon
The name Ziyon is believed to have its origins in the Hebrew language, specifically derived from the word "Tziyon," which means "highest point" or "monument." It is closely associated with Mount Zion, the hill in Jerusalem that holds immense religious and historical significance for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
In the Hebrew Bible, Mount Zion is frequently mentioned as the location of the ancient City of David and the site where the Temple of Solomon was built. The name Ziyon is therefore deeply rooted in the rich cultural and spiritual heritage of the Abrahamic faiths.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ziyon can be found in the Book of Isaiah, where it is used as a metaphorical reference to the city of Jerusalem and its people. The name gained prominence during the Second Temple period, when the Jewish community in Jerusalem flourished.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Ziyon. One of the earliest recorded figures was Ziyon ben Uzziel, a 4th-century BCE Jewish scholar and member of the Great Assembly, a council of sages responsible for codifying Jewish law and tradition.
In the Middle Ages, Ziyon ben Abraham Tzarfati, a 13th-century French Jewish scholar and philosopher, made significant contributions to the study of the Talmud and Jewish ethics.
During the Renaissance period, Ziyon ben Shlomo Kalonymus, a 16th-century Italian rabbi and kabbalist, was renowned for his expertise in Jewish mysticism and his influential works on the Zohar.
In more recent times, Ziyon Kopelman (1908-1976), a Polish-born Israeli writer and journalist, gained recognition for his novels and short stories that explored themes of Jewish identity and the experience of immigration to Israel.
Another notable figure was Ziyon Hazani (1911-1994), an Iraqi-born Israeli politician and diplomat who served as a member of the Knesset (Israeli parliament) and played a pivotal role in fostering diplomatic relations between Israel and various Arab countries.
While the name Ziyon has its roots in ancient Hebrew tradition, it has transcended cultural and geographical boundaries, being adopted by individuals from diverse backgrounds who appreciate its historical and spiritual significance.
People
Ziyon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ziyon 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
Ziyon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ziyon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 946 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ziyon 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 362,320 US residents.
Is Ziyon a common name?
We classify Ziyon as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 954 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ziyon most popular?
The single biggest year for Ziyon was 2010, when 71 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ziyon is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Ziyon a male name?
Yes, 88.6% of people registered as Ziyon 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.
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.