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Ziva

Feminine · “radiance”

1960high 2011
#1570 in the U.S.stepping back from its peak
falling134 girls in 2025

Ziva is Hebrew for radiance — a modern Israeli name built on the biblical ziv, the brightness of light, and also the old name of the month of Iyar.

How old is the name Ziva?

Ziva first appears in US birth records in 1960 — 65 years ago. The typical Ziva is a kid of about 8 — this name's wave is very recent. About 2,800 people named Ziva are estimated to be alive in the US today.

When was the name Ziva most popular?

Ziva peaked in 2011, reaching #1237 nationally. Today it ranks #1570, 333 places below that high. See the whole 2011 chart.

Compare this nameMore “Z” names

Lists built from the same records:

I

Where it comes from

The story of Ziva

Ziv and Ziva belong to the wave of Hebrew names revived and coined in Israel in the twentieth century, built on biblical vocabulary rather than on biblical people. Ziva became a standard Israeli name, and American use rose sharply from 2003 after a television character of the name. It is in current use.

Meaning

radiance, brightness

From the Hebrew ziv, 'brightness' or 'radiance', with a feminine ending. The word appears in 1 Kings as the name of the second month, when the light lengthens. A separate Slavic Živa is the goddess of life in reconstructed Slavic religion, from a root meaning 'living'.

How the name formed

  1. ziv
  2. Ziva

Related forms: זיוה · Živa · Zeeva

Pronouncing Ziva

ZEE-vah

Two syllables, stress on the first in American use. Hebrew places the stress on the second, zee-VAH.

Nicknames for Ziva

Moderate

ZiThe front sound alone, sharp and one-syllable
ZiziA reduplication, warm and used inside families
II

What the data says

The long climb, and where it stands now

GIRLS NAMED · 1960–202519397019313419602025

US babies named Ziva per year from 1960 to 2025
AVERAGE RANK BY DECADE#1#10#100#1000#12371960s2020s

The same years in position rather than babies

First recorded
1960
Most girls named
2011193 — the highest on record
Peak rank
#1237reached in 2011
Change vs 2024
−13.5%134 in 2025, from 155
Ziva is past its biggest year. The count topped out at 193 girls in 2011 and has eased 31% since — the slow half of a naming cycle, where a name stays familiar while getting steadily less common. The move since 2024: down 13.5%.

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.

Ziva in other languages

The same name elsewhere

  • זיוה in Hebrew — transliteration
  • Živa in Slovene — related form
  • Zeeva in English — spelling variant

Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.

Zivas among us

2,800

people named Ziva are estimated to be alive in the US today

About 1 girl in 11,995 born in 2025 was named Ziva

Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method

Spellings of Ziva

#1570
Ziva on the 2025 chart
#811
counting every spelling

The SSA counts spellings, not names. Ziva went to 134 girls in 2025, but Zivah is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 149, which makes it the 811th most-given girls’ name of the year — 759 places above the chart.

  • Ziva134
  • Zivah15

About 1 girl in 10,787 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 11,995 for Ziva 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

III

Is it right for you

The Jaymie test

Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Ziva's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Jaymie climbed just as high around 1976, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Jaymie's path sketches the road Ziva is walking now.

40%chance Ziva will feel “very 2020s” by 2040
Ziva, aligned on its peakJaymie· peak 1976not yet written
#1#10#100#1000peak-40 yrs+50 yrsJaymie · #5930Ziva today
Ziva today is about where Jaymie stood in 1990 — 14 years past a #1237-sized peak. By 2005, Jaymie had settled around #2697.
Ages quietlysteadyDates fast

Ziva 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 Ziva is headed

19602030

US babies named Ziva per year, 1960 to 2025, with a projection to 2030

Ziva should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.

Steady-4% by 2030projected around #1,710 in 2030

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.

Ziva beside its neighbors

The names ranked closest to Ziva in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.

Zivathis name134#1570Yitty134#1570Vaeda134#1570Britney134#1570Ester134#1570

US girls given each name in 2025.

The trade-off

Practical strengths
  • The radiance meaning is concrete, transparent and undisputed.
  • The month-of-brightness connection is a genuinely good biblical detail.
  • Four letters, two syllables, and never misheard.
What to consider
  • The Slavic Živa is a separate name with a different origin.
  • One television character carries a strong association.
  • The stress placement differs between Hebrew and American use.

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Ziva

Feminine · #1570 in the U.S.

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Frequently asked

How many Zivas are there in the world?
No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,800 people named Ziva are estimated to be alive in the US today.
How do you spell Ziva?
Ziva is the most-used spelling in US records — 134 of the 149 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Zivah.
How popular is the name Ziva in 2025?
Ziva ranks #1570 among US girl names in 2025, with 134 babies given the name.
How rare is the name Ziva?
About 1 in every 11,995 US girls born in 2025 was named Ziva — 134 in all.
Will my child share the name Ziva with classmates?
Ziva will almost certainly be the only one in school.

Ranked beside Ziva

Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.

Yitty#1570 · Vaeda#1570 · Britney#1570 · Ester#1570 · Angeline#1570 · Emberlee#1570 · Kamilla#1570 · Kaylynn#1570

Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Ziva? See the current top 100.

Choosing between Ziva and another name?

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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology

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