Zidane
A French name derived from the Arabic name Zidaan, meaning "the conquerer".
Name Census estimates that about 643 living Americans carry the first name Zidane. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Zidane today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zidane births was 2019 (49 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zidane. 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 Zidane with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
643
~ 1 in 533,055 Americans
Peak year
2019
49 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,942
Tracked since 1998
Census
Zidane in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 460 people with the first name Zidane, which placed it at #21,867 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
#21,867
National first-name rank
People counted
460
460 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
27.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Zidane
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zidane is Black at 27.8%. The next largest groups are White (25.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (22.0%). 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 Zidane 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 Zidane at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American27.8% · 128
- White25.2% · 116
- Asian and Pacific Islander22.0% · 101
- Hispanic or Latino17.0% · 78
- Two or more races7.8% · 36
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 1
Popularity
Zidane: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zidane from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 313 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Zidane remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zidane 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 Zidane during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Zidanes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Zidane, while Florida, Texas, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 46 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Zidane
The given name Zidane is of French origin, derived from the Arabic name Zidan, which itself is a diminutive form of the Arabic word "zayd," meaning "increase" or "abundance." The name is believed to have first emerged in the 7th century during the Islamic Golden Age, when Arabic names and culture spread throughout the Middle East and North Africa.
In Islamic tradition, the name Zidane is associated with the Prophetic tradition, as it is said to have been the name of one of the companions of the Prophet Muhammad. This lends the name a significant historical and religious significance within the Islamic world.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Zidane can be traced back to medieval times in various regions of the Arab world, including modern-day Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia. During this period, the name was particularly popular among the Berber populations of North Africa.
One of the most famous historical figures to bear the name Zidane was Zidane ibn al-Layth al-Qayrawani (823-894 CE), a renowned Islamic scholar and jurist from Kairouan, Tunisia. He was a prominent figure in the Maliki school of Islamic jurisprudence and authored several influential works on Islamic law.
Another notable individual with the name Zidane was Zidane ibn Yahya al-Andalusi (1012-1082 CE), a distinguished poet and scholar from Andalusia, modern-day Spain. He was celebrated for his contributions to Arabic literature and his mastery of various poetic forms.
In more recent history, the name Zidane garnered global recognition through the French footballer Zinedine Zidane, born in 1972. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and was a key member of the French national team that won the 1998 FIFA World Cup and the 2000 European Championship.
Another prominent figure with the name Zidane was Zidane Moussa Zergaoui (1939-2021), a renowned Moroccan writer and journalist. He was a prominent figure in the Moroccan literary scene and was known for his works that explored themes of identity, culture, and social issues.
Additionally, Zidane Farouk (born in 1987) is a French professional footballer who currently plays as a midfielder for Marseille. He has represented the French national team at various youth levels and has also played for several clubs in France and abroad.
People
Zidane + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zidane 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
Zidane: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zidane?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 643 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zidane 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 533,055 US residents.
Is Zidane a common name?
We classify Zidane 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, 648 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zidane most popular?
The single biggest year for Zidane was 2019, when 49 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zidane 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 Zidane in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 460 people with the name Zidane, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,867 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 Zidane 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 Zidane?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Zidane leans strongly male. 443 people counted with this name were male (97.8%), compared with 10 female bearers (2.2%). 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 Zidane?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zidane is Black at 27.8%. The next largest groups are White (25.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (22.0%). 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 Zidane most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Zidane in the 2020 Census, accounting for 27.8% (128 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 Zidane in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zidane a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zidane 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 Zidane still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zidane 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 Zidane 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 Zidane?
See how many Americans are named Zidane on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.