Zalman
A Hebrew masculine name derived from Shlomo meaning "peaceful one".
Name Census estimates that about 645 living Americans carry the first name Zalman. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Zalman today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zalman births was 2021 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zalman. 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 Zalman with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
645
~ 1 in 531,402 Americans
Peak year
2021
27 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,550
Tracked since 1949
Census
Zalman in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 653 people with the first name Zalman, which placed it at #17,051 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
#17,051
National first-name rank
People counted
653
653 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
94.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Zalman
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zalman is White at 94.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.8%) and Black (1.5%). 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 Zalman 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 Zalman at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White94.8% · 619
- Hispanic or Latino1.8% · 12
- Black or African American1.5% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 7
- Two or more races0.8% · 5
Popularity
Zalman: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zalman from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 162 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Zalman remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zalman 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 Zalman during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Zalmans live
Origin
Meaning and history of Zalman
The name Zalman is of Hebrew origin and has its roots in the biblical name Shelomo or Solomon, meaning "peaceful." It is a variant of the Yiddish name Shlomo, which is derived from the Hebrew name.
The earliest recorded use of the name Zalman can be traced back to the Middle Ages in Jewish communities across Europe. It was a common name among Ashkenazi Jews and was often used as a shortened form of the name Shlomo or Solomon.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Zalman was Rabbi Zalman of St. Petersburg, a prominent Hasidic rabbi and author who lived in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was known for his works on Jewish law and mysticism.
Another notable figure with the name Zalman was Zalman Shazar, the third President of Israel, who served from 1963 to 1973. Born in 1889 in present-day Belarus, he was a prominent Zionist leader and played a significant role in the establishment of the State of Israel.
In the 20th century, Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (1924-2014) was a renowned Jewish Renewal rabbi and author. He was instrumental in the revival of Jewish mysticism and played a pivotal role in the Jewish Renewal movement.
Zalman Aran (1899-1970) was an Israeli politician and one of the signatories of the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948. He served as a member of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, for several terms.
Zalman Aranne (1909-1982) was a prominent Israeli author and playwright. He is best known for his works that explored the complexities of life in Israel and the struggles of Jewish immigrants in the early years of the state.
While the name Zalman has its roots in Hebrew and Jewish culture, it has gained popularity among various communities and has been adopted across different cultures and languages. However, its historical significance and connection to Jewish heritage remain deeply rooted in its origins.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Zalman
People
Zalman + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zalman 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
Zalman: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zalman?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 645 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zalman 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 531,402 US residents.
Is Zalman a common name?
We classify Zalman as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 665 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zalman most popular?
The single biggest year for Zalman was 2021, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zalman is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Zalman in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 653 people with the name Zalman, or 0.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,051 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 Zalman 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 Zalman?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Zalman appears almost entirely male. Of the 652 people counted with this name, 100.0% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Zalman?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zalman is White at 94.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.8%) and Black (1.5%). 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 Zalman most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Zalman in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.8% (619 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 Zalman in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zalman a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zalman 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 Zalman still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zalman 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 Zalman 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 people have Zalman as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Zalman on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.