Zeyad
A masculine Arabic name meaning "increase" or "to add more".
Name Census estimates that about 518 living Americans carry the first name Zeyad. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Zeyad today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zeyad births was 2017 (34 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zeyad. 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 Zeyad with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
518
~ 1 in 661,688 Americans
Peak year
2017
34 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,551
Tracked since 1972
Census
Zeyad in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 840 people with the first name Zeyad, which placed it at #14,119 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
#14,119
National first-name rank
People counted
840
840 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
85.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Zeyad
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zeyad is White at 85.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.3%). 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 Zeyad 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 Zeyad at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.5% · 718
- Two or more races6.0% · 50
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.3% · 36
- Black or African American3.5% · 29
- Hispanic or Latino0.8% · 7
Popularity
Zeyad: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zeyad 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 215 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Zeyad remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zeyad 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 Zeyad during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Zeyads live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. New York, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Zeyad, while Texas, California, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 13 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Zeyad
The name Zeyad originates from the Arabic language and culture, with its roots traced back to the Arabian Peninsula during the early Islamic era. It is derived from the Arabic word "ziyada," which means "increase" or "abundance," suggesting a connection to prosperity and abundance.
The earliest recorded use of the name Zeyad can be found in historical Islamic texts and literature from the 7th century AD. One notable mention is in the Sirat Rasul Allah (Biography of the Prophet Muhammad), where a companion of the Prophet named Zeyad ibn Labid is mentioned.
Throughout Islamic history, several prominent figures bore the name Zeyad. One of the earliest was Zeyad ibn Abi Sufyan (622-673 AD), a renowned Muslim general and governor during the Umayyad Caliphate. He played a crucial role in the Muslim conquests and expansion of the Islamic empire.
Another significant figure was Zeyad ibn Abihi (615-673 AD), a prominent companion of the Prophet Muhammad and a skilled orator. He was known for his wisdom, eloquence, and contributions to the early Islamic community.
During the Abbasid Caliphate, Zeyad ibn al-Raqashi (753-817 AD) was a celebrated poet and writer known for his mastery of Arabic literature and poetry. His works were highly regarded and influential in the literary circles of his time.
In the modern era, one notable bearer of the name was Zeyad Khalil (1923-1975), a Palestinian artist and sculptor renowned for his monumental public sculptures and contributions to the development of modern Palestinian art.
Zeyad Habib (1938-2001) was a prominent Lebanese writer, journalist, and human rights activist. He was a vocal advocate for freedom of expression and played a significant role in the Lebanese civil war through his writings and activism.
These are just a few examples of the historical figures who carried the name Zeyad, a name that has its roots in the rich cultural heritage of the Arab world and Islamic civilization.
People
Zeyad + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zeyad 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
Zeyad: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zeyad?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 518 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zeyad 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 661,688 US residents.
Is Zeyad a common name?
We classify Zeyad as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 525 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zeyad most popular?
The single biggest year for Zeyad was 2017, when 34 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zeyad is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Zeyad in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 840 people with the name Zeyad, or 0.28 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,119 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 Zeyad 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 Zeyad?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Zeyad appears almost entirely male. Of the 839 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Zeyad?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zeyad is White at 85.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.3%). 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 Zeyad most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Zeyad in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.5% (718 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 Zeyad in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zeyad a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zeyad 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 Zeyad still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zeyad 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 Zeyad 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 Zeyad?
See how many Americans are named Zeyad on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.