Zoya
Of Persian origin, meaning "alive" or "life-giver".
Name Census estimates that about 4,585 living Americans carry the first name Zoya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Zoya today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zoya births was 2022 (358 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zoya. 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 Zoya with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Zoya is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 12 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
4.6K
~ 1 in 74,756 Americans
Peak year
2022
358 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#976
Tracked since 1963
Census
Zoya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,063 people with the first name Zoya, which placed it at #3,877 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
#3,877
National first-name rank
People counted
5.1K
5,063 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
46.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Zoya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zoya is White at 46.5%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (41.5%) and Black (5.0%). 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 Zoya 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 Zoya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White46.5% · 2,355
- Asian and Pacific Islander41.5% · 2,099
- Black or African American5.0% · 255
- Two or more races5.0% · 252
- Hispanic or Latino1.6% · 79
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 23
Popularity
Zoya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zoya from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,931 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Zoya remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zoya 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 Zoya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Zoyas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 27 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Zoya, while Kansas, Indiana, District of Columbia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 123 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Zoya
The name Zoya has its origins in the Russian language and culture, with its earliest roots dating back to the medieval era. It is derived from the Greek word "zoe," meaning "life" or "alive," and was likely brought to Russia through Orthodox Christianity.
In ancient Slavic mythology, Zoya was a goddess associated with fertility, renewal, and the arrival of spring. This connection to life and nature may have contributed to the name's popularity among early Slavic communities.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Zoya can be found in the Veliky Novgorod Birch Bark Letters, a collection of historical documents dating back to the 11th and 15th centuries. These letters provide valuable insights into the everyday lives of medieval Russians and the names they used.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Zoya. In the 16th century, Zoya Semyonovna Khovrina was a Russian noblewoman and a close confidante of Tsar Ivan the Terrible. She played a significant role in the political intrigues of the Tsar's court.
Another notable Zoya was Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya (1923-1941), a Soviet partisan and World War II heroine who was executed by German forces during the Battle of Moscow. Her bravery and sacrifice made her a symbol of resistance against fascism in the Soviet Union.
In the realm of literature, Zoya Fyodorovna Krugovaya (1919-1988) was a renowned Soviet writer and poet. Her works, which explored themes of love, nature, and the human condition, earned her recognition and critical acclaim.
The name Zoya also gained prominence in the 20th century with Zoya Anatolyevna Kosmodemyanskaya (1923-1942), another Soviet partisan and hero of the Great Patriotic War. She was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for her courageous actions against the German occupiers.
Lastly, Zoya Akhmatova (1889-1966) was a celebrated Russian poet and one of the most influential figures in 20th-century Russian literature. Her poignant and lyrical works, which often explored themes of love, loss, and the human condition, earned her widespread acclaim and a place in the literary canon.
These are just a few examples of the rich history and significance associated with the name Zoya. Its connection to life, nature, and resilience has endured through the ages, making it a timeless and evocative choice for many cultures and generations.
People
Zoya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zoya 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
Zoya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zoya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,585 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zoya 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 74,756 US residents.
Is Zoya a common name?
We classify Zoya as "Rare". It ranks above 96.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,633 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zoya most popular?
The single biggest year for Zoya was 2022, when 358 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zoya is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Zoya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,063 people with the name Zoya, or 1.68 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,877 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 Zoya 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 Zoya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Zoya appears almost entirely female. Of the 5,052 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Zoya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zoya is White at 46.5%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (41.5%) and Black (5.0%). 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 Zoya most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Zoya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 46.5% (2,355 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 Zoya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zoya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zoya 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 Zoya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zoya 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 Zoya 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 Zoya?
Find out how many Americans are named Zoya on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.