Zohal
A feminine name of Persian origin meaning "Venus" or "planet Venus".
Name Census estimates that about 130 living Americans carry the first name Zohal. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Zohal today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zohal births was 2023 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zohal. 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 Zohal with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
130
~ 1 in 2,636,572 Americans
Peak year
2023
13 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,916
Tracked since 1992
Census
Zohal in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 264 people with the first name Zohal, which placed it at #32,084 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
#32,084
National first-name rank
People counted
264
264 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
58.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Zohal
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zohal is Asian/Pacific Islander at 58.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (23.9%) and White (13.6%). 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 Zohal 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 Zohal at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander58.0% · 153
- Two or more races23.9% · 63
- White13.6% · 36
- Black or African American2.7% · 7
- Hispanic or Latino1.9% · 5
Popularity
Zohal: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zohal from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 48 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zohal 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 Zohal during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Zohals live
Origin
Meaning and history of Zohal
The name Zohal has its origins in the Persian language and is derived from the word "Zohal," which means "Saturn" in Persian. It is believed to have been used as a name during the ancient Persian era, possibly as early as the Achaemenid Empire (550-330 BCE).
The name Zohal is mentioned in several ancient Persian texts and literary works, including the Shahnameh, the epic poem written by the celebrated Persian poet Ferdowsi in the late 10th century. In the Shahnameh, Zohal is referenced as a powerful and influential figure in Persian mythology.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Zohal can be found in the writings of the Persian philosopher and astronomer Al-Biruni (973-1048 CE). Al-Biruni's works mention Zohal as a name associated with the planet Saturn in astrological and astronomical contexts.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Zohal. One of the most famous was Zohal Al-Khayyam (born c. 1048 CE), a renowned Persian mathematician, astronomer, philosopher, and poet. He is best known for his work on the reform of the Persian calendar and his influential literary work, the Rubaiyat.
Another notable figure was Zohal Al-Din Rumi (1207-1273 CE), a Persian poet, Islamic scholar, and Sufi mystic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest poets in the Persian language and is celebrated for his spiritual writings and poetry, including the Masnavi, a masterpiece of Persian literature.
In the 16th century, Zohal Beg (c. 1505-1585) was a prominent Persian military commander and statesman who served under the Safavid dynasty. He played a crucial role in the expansion and consolidation of the Safavid Empire.
During the 19th century, Zohal Khan (1813-1879) was a notable Afghan military leader and statesman who served as the Wali (governor) of Herat and played a significant role in the political affairs of Afghanistan during that period.
Zohal has also been used as a name in various other cultures and regions influenced by Persian culture, such as Central Asia and parts of the Indian subcontinent, although its popularity and usage may have varied over time.
People
Zohal + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zohal 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
Zohal: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zohal?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 130 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zohal 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 2,636,572 US residents.
Is Zohal a common name?
We classify Zohal as "Very Rare". It ranks above 68.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 132 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zohal most popular?
The single biggest year for Zohal was 2023, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zohal is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Zohal in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 264 people with the name Zohal, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #32,084 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 Zohal 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 Zohal?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Zohal appears almost entirely female. Of the 266 people counted with this name, 99.6% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Zohal?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zohal is Asian/Pacific Islander at 58.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (23.9%) and White (13.6%). 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 Zohal most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Zohal in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.0% (153 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 Zohal in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zohal a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zohal 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 Zohal still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zohal 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 Zohal 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 Americans are named Zohal?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.