Tzvi
Masculine · Hebrew roots · “Gazelle”
Tzvi is the Hebrew word for a gazelle, the animal Jacob invokes when he blesses Naphtali in Genesis, and it has been given to Jewish boys for centuries in that plain, unaltered form. It is one syllable and starts with a consonant cluster English rarely allows at the front of a word — ts, as in cats, then vee. Four letters, no vowel visible, and it still says its whole self in a single beat.
How old is the name Tzvi?
Tzvi first appears in US birth records in 1961 — 64 years ago. The typical Tzvi is a kid of about 12 — this name's wave is very recent. About 4,100 people named Tzvi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Tzvi most popular?
Tzvi peaked in 2025, reaching #1075 nationally. Today it ranks #1075, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Tzvi appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From צְבִי (Hebrew tzvi) to Tzvi
The story of Tzvi
Tzvi is Hebrew, straight from the biblical noun for a gazelle, a creature the Song of Songs and Isaiah both reach for. Its use as a personal name grew out of Jacob's blessing of Naphtali in Genesis, where his son is likened to a swift deer, and among Ashkenazi Jews it became one half of a classic double name: Tzvi Hirsch, the Hebrew word paired with its Yiddish twin, Hirsch or Hersh, also meaning deer. That pairing carried the name through Central and Eastern Europe for generations, so that a boy might be Tzvi in the synagogue and Hersh at home. In Israel it stands alone and has its own affectionate form, Tzvika.
Meaning
Gazelle, deer
The same Hebrew word carries a second sense of beauty or splendor — the phrase eretz ha-tzvi, used of the land of Israel, can be read either way. Both readings sit in the same word rather than competing over it.
How the name formed
- צְבִיHebrew tzvi
- Tzvi Hirsch
- Zvi / Tsvi
- Tzvika
Related forms: צְבִי · Zvi · Tsvi · Zwi · Hersh · Hirsch
Pronouncing Tzvi
TSVEE
One syllable. The ts is the sound at the end of cats, moved to the front of the word. English speakers who find that cluster hard often land on ZVEE or tuh-SVEE, and both are commonly heard outside Hebrew-speaking settings.
Nicknames for Tzvi
High
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1961
- Most boys named
- 2025200 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1075reached in 2025
- Change vs 2024
- +10.5%200 in 2025, from 181
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Tzvi in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- צְבִי in Hebrew — same name
- Zvi in English (common alternate) — transliteration
- Tsvi in English (alternate) — transliteration
- Zwi in German/Dutch spelling — transliteration
- Hersh in Yiddish — related form
- Hirsch in Yiddish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, New Jersey, Florida.
Tzvis among us
people named Tzvi are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 8,540 born in 2025 was named Tzvi
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Blayne test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Tzvi's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Blayne climbed just as high around 2000, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Blayne's path sketches the road Tzvi is walking now.
Tzvi sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Tzvi is headed
Tzvi should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Tzvi beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Tzvi in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- One syllable and four letters — short to write, quick to say, and it needs no shortening.
- Comes with real established nicknames rather than invented ones: Tzvika in Israel, Hersh and Hershel in the Yiddish tradition.
- A continuous record in Hebrew going back to the biblical text, with the Genesis blessing of Naphtali behind it.
- Recognized across Hebrew, Yiddish, Israeli and American Jewish usage, with settled spellings in each.
- The opening ts is not a sound English puts at the start of words, so expect to correct it often — usually to ZVEE, sometimes to a two-syllable attempt.
- There are several accepted transliterations of the same Hebrew name: Tzvi, Zvi, Tsvi, Zwi. Whichever you choose, it will be written back to you in one of the others.
- It is used almost entirely within Jewish communities, and its American footprint is concentrated in a few states. Outside those settings, it will usually be a name people are meeting for the first time — easily explained, but explained more than once.
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What they receive
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Tzvi
Masculine · Hebrew roots · #1075 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Tzvis are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 4,100 people named Tzvi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Tzvi in 2025?
- Tzvi ranks #1075 among US boy names in 2025, with 200 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Tzvi?
- About 1 in every 8,540 US boys born in 2025 was named Tzvi — 200 in all.
- Will my child share the name Tzvi with classmates?
- Tzvi will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Tzvi
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ilyas#1075 · Sunny#1075 · Osiris#1075 · Vance#1075 · Kiyan#1075 · Ramiro#1073 · Gary#1073 · Aizen#1081
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Tzvi? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Tzvi and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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