Zohan
Masculine
Zohan reached wide American notice through a 2008 film, though the sound sits close to the Hebrew Zohar — brightness, the title of the central text of Kabbalah.
How old is the name Zohan?
Zohan first appears in US birth records in 2012 — 13 years ago. The typical Zohan is a kid of about 3 — this name's wave is very recent. About 600 people named Zohan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Zohan most popular?
Zohan peaked in 2025, reaching #1585 nationally. Today it ranks #1585, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Zohan
Our story of Zohan is a story of a sound arriving twice. The Hebrew zohar — brightness, and the name of the foundational text of Jewish mysticism — had been in the language for centuries. Then a 2008 comedy gave the name to its title character, and the American registers show Zohan appearing from that year. Whether the film's writers were reaching for the Hebrew or simply liked the sound is not recorded. Both explanations are honest; neither is documented, and that is worth saying plainly.
Meaningscholars disagree
Not established
No settled etymology. It resembles the Hebrew zohar, 'brightness' or 'splendor', and the biblical Zohan or Zochar. It also functions as a Z-fronted coinage in the modern American pattern. The 2008 film that carried it treated the name as an invention.
Pronouncing Zohan
ZOH-han
Two syllables, stress on the first. Some bearers say zoh-HAHN with the stress at the end.
Nicknames for Zohan
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
- 2012
- Most boys named
- 2025107 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1585reached in 2025
- Change vs 2024
- +30.5%107 in 2025, from 82
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.
Zohan in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Zohar in Hebrew — related form
- Zohaan in English — spelling variant
- Zohan in Urdu — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, Texas, California.
Zohans among us
people named Zohan are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 15,963 born in 2025 was named Zohan
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Zohan
- #1585
- Zohan on the 2025 chart
- #796
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Zohan went to 107 boys in 2025, but Zohaan is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 132, which makes it the 796th most-given boys’ name of the year — 789 places above the chart.
- Zohan107
- Zohaan25
About 1 boy in 12,940 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 15,963 for Zohan 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 Livan test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Zohan's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Livan climbed just as high around 1998, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Livan's path sketches the road Zohan is walking now.
Zohan is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Zohan is headed
Zohan looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 33% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
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.
Zohan beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Zohan in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The Hebrew zohar behind the sound has a genuinely rich association.
- Zo and Han are two short forms, both with real currency.
- Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk.
- The origin is genuinely unsettled and the film association is strong.
- The stress placement splits between two readings.
- It is very new and will need spelling out.
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Zohan
Masculine · #1585 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Zohans are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Zohan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Zohan?
- Zohan is the most-used spelling in US records — 107 of the 132 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Zohaan.
- How popular is the name Zohan in 2025?
- Zohan ranks #1585 among US boy names in 2025, with 107 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Zohan?
- About 1 in every 15,963 US boys born in 2025 was named Zohan — 107 in all.
- Will my child share the name Zohan with classmates?
- Zohan will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Zohan
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Sulaiman#1585 · Delijah#1585 · Terrence#1585 · Chester#1585 · Karl#1585 · Nisaiah#1585 · Said#1585 · Amazi#1585
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Zohan? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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