Zahava
Feminine · “gold”
Zahava is the Hebrew word for gold, and modern Israeli naming took a whole set of material words as names in exactly this way.
How old is the name Zahava?
Zahava first appears in US birth records in 1973 — 52 years ago. The typical Zahava alive today was born around 2012, making them about 13 years old. About 800 people named Zahava are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Zahava most popular?
Zahava peaked in 2020, reaching #3735 nationally. Today it ranks #4265, 530 places below that high. See the whole 2020 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From zahav to Zahava
The story of Zahava
Modern Israeli naming took ordinary Hebrew nouns and made them names — Zahava for gold, Ora for light, Shoshana for a lily, Tikva for hope. The practice was deliberate: a national revival of the language wanted names from the language itself rather than from the diaspora's German and Slavic stock. Zahava is also the Hebrew equivalent chosen by women called Golda or Golde in Yiddish.
Meaning
gold, golden
From Hebrew zahav, gold; zahava is the feminine form. The same word appears throughout the Hebrew Bible in the descriptions of the temple and the ark, and modern Hebrew uses it unchanged.
How the name formed
- zahav
- Zahava
Related forms: Zehava · Golda
Pronouncing Zahava
zah-HAH-vah
Three syllables with the stress in the middle. Hebrew stresses the last.
Nicknames for Zahava
Moderate
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
- 1973
- Most girls named
- 202440 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3735reached in 2020
- Change vs 2024
- −17.5%33 in 2025, from 40
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.
Zahava in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Zehava in Hebrew — spelling variant
- Golda in Yiddish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: New Jersey, New York, California.
Zahavas among us
people named Zahava are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 48,705 born in 2025 was named Zahava
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Zahava
- #4265
- Zahava on the 2025 chart
- #922
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Zahava went to 33 girls in 2025, but Zahavah is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 38, which makes it the 922nd most-given girls’ name of the year — 3,343 places above the chart.
- Zahava33
- Zahavah5
About 1 girl in 42,297 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 48,705 for Zahava itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Parrish test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Zahava's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Parrish climbed just as high around 1965, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Parrish's path sketches the road Zahava is walking now.
Zahava 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 Zahava is headed
Zahava should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium 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.
Zahava beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Zahava in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled meaning that is concrete and needs no explaining.
- The initial Z keeps it distinct on any list.
- Hava is a complete Hebrew name in its own right.
- The stress differs between the Hebrew and American readings.
- Zahava and Zehava are both used and neither is dominant.
- It is entirely unfamiliar outside Jewish communities in America.
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What they receive
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Zahava
Feminine · #4265 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Zahavas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 800 people named Zahava are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Zahava?
- Zahava is the most-used spelling in US records — 33 of the 38 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Zahavah.
- How popular is the name Zahava in 2025?
- Zahava ranks #4265 among US girl names in 2025, with 33 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Zahava?
- About 1 in every 48,705 US girls born in 2025 was named Zahava — 33 in all.
- Will my child share the name Zahava with classmates?
- Zahava will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Zahava
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Hyacinth#4265 · Halina#4265 · Michal#4265 · Sadia#4265 · Maiah#4265 · Daysi#4265 · Annalyse#4265 · Corrie#4265
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Zahava? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Zahava and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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