Recorded 1969–2025 · United States
Zen was most popular in 2022, when 321 American babies were given the name — ranking #1,635 that year. In 2025 it ranked #2,032, with 228 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 3,313 people named Zen.
Zen first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1969, which makes it about 56 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 39 of the 57 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 3,313 American births named Zen between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 3,281 are estimated to be alive today.
228 American babies were named Zen in 2025, ranking #2,032 that year.
Zen is rising. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 270 births a year, against 83 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of +224% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Zen is mostly a boy’s name — 18.0% of the 3,313 Americans given it were girls and 82.0% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 21% girls and 79% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 3,281 Americans named Zen are alive today — 99% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 7 years old, and half are between 4 and 15. That is a narrow band because Zen is a young name — it only became common recently, so almost everyone carrying it is still a child or a young adult.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Zen on the interactive charts
About · Privacy · Contact
Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org