Zahid
Masculine · “ascetic”
Zahid is an Arabic word for someone who has deliberately let go of what they could have had — the ascetic, the person indifferent to luxury. It is used across the Arab world and South Asia, and it names a quality rather than an object.
How old is the name Zahid?
Zahid first appears in US birth records in 1978 — 47 years ago. The typical Zahid alive today was born around 2012, making them about 13 years old. About 1,100 people named Zahid are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Zahid most popular?
Zahid peaked in 2022, reaching #2243 nationally. Today it ranks #3128, 885 places below that high. See the whole 2022 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From zuhd to Zahid
The story of Zahid
Zuhd is a term of art in Islamic spiritual writing, describing a settled indifference to wealth and comfort rather than a poverty forced on someone, and zahid is the person who practices it. The word became a personal name early and traveled with Arabic into Persian, Urdu and Turkish. It reaches American records chiefly from South Asian and Arab families, generally in this spelling.
Meaning
ascetic, one who renounces worldly things
From an Arabic root meaning to abstain or to have no appetite for something; the related noun names the practice itself.
How the name formed
- zuhd
- zahid
Related forms: Zaahid · Zahit · Zahed · Zahid
Pronouncing Zahid
ZAH-hid
Two syllables, first stressed, with a clear h between them.
Nicknames for Zahid
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
- 1978
- Most boys named
- 202264 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2243reached in 2022
- Change vs 2024
- −22.4%38 in 2025, from 49
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.
Zahid in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Zaahid in Arabic — transliteration
- Zahit in Turkish — same name
- Zahed in Urdu — spelling variant
- Zahid in Bosnian — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, New York, Texas.
Zahids among us
people named Zahid are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 44,949 born in 2025 was named Zahid
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 Thaddius test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Zahid's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Thaddius climbed just as high around 1972, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Thaddius's path sketches the road Zahid is walking now.
Zahid 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 Zahid is headed
Zahid 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.
Zahid beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Zahid in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Begins with Z, which is rare enough to make it stand out on any list.
- Recognized in Arabic, Urdu, Turkish and Bosnian without change of spelling.
- A documented meaning tied to a real tradition rather than a guessed one.
- The h in the middle disappears in fast English speech, leaving ZAHD.
- Zaid, Zahir and Zayd are all close, and confusion between them is common.
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What they receive
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Zahid
Masculine · #3128 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Zahids are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,100 people named Zahid are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Zahid in 2025?
- Zahid ranks #3128 among US boy names in 2025, with 38 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Zahid?
- About 1 in every 44,949 US boys born in 2025 was named Zahid — 38 in all.
- Will my child share the name Zahid with classmates?
- Zahid will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Zahid
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Hamilton#3128 · Juanpablo#3128 · Courtney#3128 · Baxter#3128 · Javen#3128 · Hal#3128 · Dawud#3128 · Tavion#3128
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Zahid? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Zahid and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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