Zona
The feminine name of Italian origin signifying "zone" or "region".
Name Census estimates that about 1,134 living Americans carry the first name Zona. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Zona today is around 62 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zona births was 1916 (107 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zona. 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 Zona with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 302,253 Americans
Peak year
1916
107 babies that year
Average age
62
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,065
Tracked since 1880
Census
Zona in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,597 people with the first name Zona, which placed it at #8,909 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
#8,909
National first-name rank
People counted
1.6K
1,597 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
76.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Zona
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zona is White at 76.8%. The next largest groups are Black (11.6%) and Two or More Races (3.8%). 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 Zona 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 Zona at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.8% · 1,226
- Black or African American11.6% · 185
- Two or more races3.8% · 61
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.0% · 48
- Hispanic or Latino2.6% · 41
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.3% · 36
Popularity
Zona: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zona from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 841 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zona 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 Zona during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Zonas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 26 states and territories. Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma recorded the most babies named Zona, while Nebraska, Michigan, Utah recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 36 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Zona
The name Zona is derived from the Spanish word "zona", which means "zone" or "area". It is believed to have originated in Spain during the late Middle Ages or the Renaissance period, possibly as a nickname or descriptive term for someone living in a particular region or area.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Zona can be found in Spanish historical records from the 16th century. It was sometimes given as a feminine name, although its usage was relatively rare compared to more traditional Spanish names at the time.
In later centuries, the name Zona gained some popularity among Spanish-speaking communities, particularly in Latin America. One notable historical figure with this name was Zona Gale (1874-1938), an American novelist and playwright who was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1921 for her play "Miss Lulu Bett".
Another notable bearer of the name was Zona Heaster Shoemaker (1870-1897), an American woman whose death led to the infamous "Greenbrier Ghost" case in West Virginia. Her ghost was said to have appeared and revealed that she had been murdered by her husband, leading to his eventual conviction.
In the 20th century, Zona Gale, an American author and playwright (1874-1938), became one of the most famous individuals with this name. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1921 for her play "Miss Lulu Bett".
Another historical figure named Zona was Zona Gale Breeden (1892-1976), an American teacher and author who wrote several books on education and child development.
While not a widespread name, Zona has been used sporadically throughout history, particularly in Spanish-speaking regions and communities with connections to Spanish culture and language.
People
Zona + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zona 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
Zona: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zona?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,134 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zona 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 302,253 US residents.
Is Zona a common name?
We classify Zona as "Rare". It ranks above 90.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,562 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zona most popular?
The single biggest year for Zona was 1916, when 107 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zona is about 62 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Zona in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,597 people with the name Zona, or 0.53 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,909 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 Zona 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 Zona?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Zona leans strongly female. 1,568 people counted with this name were female (98.7%), compared with 20 male bearers (1.3%). 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 Zona?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zona is White at 76.8%. The next largest groups are Black (11.6%) and Two or More Races (3.8%). 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 Zona most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Zona in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.8% (1,226 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 Zona in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zona a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zona in the SSA data are female. 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 Zona still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zona 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 Zona 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 Zona?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.