Zen

boys’ name · 82%girls’ name · 18%At its peak · modern nameCompare

Zen is ranked 959th among boys in 2024 (236 births). Its best rank was 907th, in 2022.

Rank in 2024: #959down 24 from 2023
Births in 2024: 2360.01% of boys
Peak year: 2022255 births
Best rank: #907in 2022
Since 1969: 3,080people given the name

Babies named Zen, by year of birthboysgirls

The story in the numbers

2,528 boys have been named Zen in the United States since 1969, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 2022, with 255 births.

It has never been more used than now: its record year is 2022, within the last few years of data.

Half of everyone given the name was born by 2018, and the 2020s alone account for 42%. It has spent 3 of 145 years in the top 1,000.

Zen is used for both sexes: 18% of its bearers are girls (552), most of them born around 2022.

Rank among boys, year by year

Higher on the chart = more popularrank (gaps = outside the top 1,000)

By decade

Decade	boys named Zen
1960s	5
1980s	11
1990s	152
2000s	492
2010s	811
2020s	1,057

In 2022, its biggest year

Zen was the 907th most given boy’s name that year. The top five boys’ names of 2022 were Liam, Noah, Oliver, James and Elijah. See all of 2022.

Names that rose and fell with Zen

Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.

What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.