Zeus
Masculine name of Greek origin meaning "chief" or "king" of the gods.
Name Census estimates that about 2,530 living Americans carry the first name Zeus. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Zeus today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zeus births was 2024 (203 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zeus. 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 Zeus with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Zeus is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 11 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.5K
~ 1 in 135,476 Americans
Peak year
2024
203 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,073
Tracked since 1973
Census
Zeus in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,632 people with the first name Zeus, which placed it at #8,778 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
#8,778
National first-name rank
People counted
1.6K
1,632 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
62.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Zeus
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zeus is Hispanic at 62.4%. The next largest groups are White (15.3%) and Black (9.3%). 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 Zeus 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 Zeus at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino62.4% · 1,018
- White15.3% · 250
- Black or African American9.3% · 152
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.7% · 126
- Two or more races4.7% · 76
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 10
Popularity
Zeus: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zeus from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,127 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
Zeus 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 Zeus during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Zeus' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 19 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Zeus, while Tennessee, Oklahoma, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 81 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Zeus
The given name Zeus originates from the ancient Greek language and culture. It dates back to the 8th century BCE or earlier, during the archaic period of ancient Greece. The name is derived from the Greek word "Dios," which means "sky" or "day." It is the name of the supreme deity in ancient Greek mythology, the ruler of Mount Olympus and the god of sky and thunder.
Zeus is a prominent name in Greek mythology, appearing extensively in the works of ancient Greek writers and poets such as Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. These epic poems, believed to have been composed around the 8th century BCE, feature Zeus as a central figure and the king of the gods.
The earliest recorded use of the name Zeus can be traced back to ancient Greek inscriptions and artifacts from the 8th century BCE or earlier. One of the most famous individuals named Zeus in ancient Greek history was Zeus Ammon, a historical figure who lived in the 6th century BCE and was revered as a god in some parts of ancient Greece.
Throughout history, the name Zeus has been borne by several notable individuals, including:
1. Zeus of Crete (4th century BCE), a Greek philosopher and disciple of Parmenides.
2. Zeus of Sidon (3rd century BCE), a Greek philosopher and Academic skeptic.
3. Zeus Amitrochates (2nd century BCE), a Greco-Bactrian ruler in the region of modern-day Afghanistan and Pakistan.
4. Zeus Chytron (1st century BCE), a Greek philosopher and Epicurean.
5. Zeus Kasios (1st century CE), a Roman-era Greek philosopher and Peripatetic.
The name Zeus has been associated with power, authority, and divinity throughout its history, reflecting its origins as the name of the supreme deity in ancient Greek mythology. Its enduring presence in various literary works and historical records highlights its cultural significance and impact on the ancient Greek civilization.
People
Zeus + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zeus 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
Zeus: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zeus?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,530 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zeus 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 135,476 US residents.
Is Zeus a common name?
We classify Zeus as "Rare". It ranks above 94.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,554 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zeus most popular?
The single biggest year for Zeus was 2024, when 203 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zeus is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Zeus in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,632 people with the name Zeus, or 0.54 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,778 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 Zeus 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 Zeus?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Zeus appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,628 people counted with this name, 99.2% 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 Zeus?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zeus is Hispanic at 62.4%. The next largest groups are White (15.3%) and Black (9.3%). 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 Zeus most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Zeus in the 2020 Census, accounting for 62.4% (1,018 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 Zeus in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zeus a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zeus 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 Zeus still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zeus 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 Zeus 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 are named Zeus?
Find out how many Americans are named Zeus on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.