Zon
A variant spelling of the Hebrew name Zion, meaning "highest point".
Name Census estimates that about 14 living Americans carry the first name Zon. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Zon today is around 50 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zon births was 1970 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zon. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Zon. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
14
~ 1 in 24,482,453 Americans
Peak year
1970
5 babies that year
Average age
50
years old
1979 SSA rank
#7,071
Tracked since 1970
Census
Zon in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 129 people with the first name Zon, which placed it at #48,862 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
#48,862
National first-name rank
People counted
129
129 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
45.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Zon
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zon is White at 45.0%. The next largest groups are Black (24.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (23.3%). 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 Zon 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 Zon at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White45.0% · 58
- Black or African American24.0% · 31
- Asian and Pacific Islander23.3% · 30
- Two or more races3.9% · 5
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 1
Popularity
Zon: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Zon 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 Zon during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 15 | 0 | 15 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Zon
The name Zon is believed to have its origins in the ancient Egyptian language, dating back to around 3100 BC. It is thought to be derived from the Egyptian word "zn," which means "to be beautiful" or "to be radiant." The name was likely given to children as a way of expressing a wish for them to be physically attractive or to possess an inner beauty and radiance.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Zon can be found in the Pyramid Texts, a collection of ancient Egyptian funerary inscriptions dating back to the Old Kingdom period (c. 2686–2181 BC). These texts were inscribed on the walls of pyramids and were intended to aid the deceased pharaoh in their journey to the afterlife.
In ancient Greek mythology, Zon was the name of a minor deity associated with the concept of life itself. He was often depicted as a young, vibrant figure, symbolizing the vitality and energy of existence.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Zon. One of the earliest was Zon of Crete, a Greek philosopher who lived in the 6th century BC and was a student of the renowned thinker Pythagoras. Another significant figure was Zon the Elder, a Byzantine scholar and theologian who lived in the 9th century AD and made significant contributions to the study of canon law.
In the realm of literature, Zon was the name of a character in the epic poem "The Odyssey" by Homer. This Zon was a brave warrior who fought alongside Odysseus during the Trojan War.
During the Middle Ages, there was Zon of Strasbourg, a German architect and engineer who is credited with designing the famous Strasbourg Cathedral in the 12th century AD. This architectural marvel is renowned for its intricate Gothic style and stunning stained glass windows.
Another notable figure was Zon the Navigator, a Portuguese explorer who lived in the 15th century AD and played a crucial role in the early voyages of exploration along the western coast of Africa. His contributions helped pave the way for the Age of Discovery and the expansion of European knowledge about the world.
People
Zon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zon 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
Zon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 14 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zon 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 24,482,453 US residents.
Is Zon a common name?
We classify Zon as "Very Rare". It ranks above 34% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 15 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zon most popular?
The single biggest year for Zon was 1970, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zon is about 50 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Zon in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 129 people with the name Zon, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #48,862 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 Zon 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 Zon?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Zon leans strongly male. 104 people counted with this name were male (81.3%), compared with 24 female bearers (18.8%). 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 Zon?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zon is White at 45.0%. The next largest groups are Black (24.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (23.3%). 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 Zon most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Zon in the 2020 Census, accounting for 45.0% (58 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 Zon in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zon a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zon 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 Zon still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zon 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 Zon 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 Zon?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Zon at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.