Zane
Zane was given to 1,051 boys in 2025, #324 among boys’ names; 57,228 Americans have been recorded with it since 1914 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 53,700 Americans named Zane and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (94% of everyone recorded); the median is 18 years old and half are between 10 and 27.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Zane by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Zane mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Zane is “a male given name transferred from the surname.”
The usage seems to date from the American writer Zane Grey (1875-1939), born Pearl Zane Gray. It was the surname of his mother’s family, of unknown meaning.
Sometimes explained as a form of John because of the resemblance to Shane, or because Italian surnames such as Zanelli and Zanetto derive from the equivalent name Giovanni.
In some cases, a respelling of Zayn, which is of Arabic origin.
/zeɪn/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Zane?
#324 among boys’ names, 2025
Zane fell from #232 in 2015 to #324 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 0.87 to 0.62 per 1,000.
2,041 babies in 2018, the peak
Zane peaked in 2018, when 2,041 babies were given it (2,033 boys, #199 among boys’ names). The 1,051 births of 2025 are 51% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1,051 | #324 | 0.62 |
| 2024 | 1,112 | #305 | 0.65 |
| 2023 | 1,226 | #276 | 0.72 |
| 2022 | 1,345 | #258 | 0.77 |
| 2021 | 1,488 | #238 | 0.85 |
| 2020 | 1,362 | #258 | 0.79 |
| 2019 | 1,600 | #238 | 0.89 |
| 2018 | 2,033 | #199 | 1.1 |
| 2017 | 1,962 | #202 | 1.1 |
| 2016 | 1,875 | #211 | 1.0 |
Every recorded year (112)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 1,670 | #232 | 0.87 |
| 2014 | 1,699 | #224 | 0.88 |
| 2013 | 1,747 | #215 | 0.92 |
| 2012 | 1,595 | #224 | 0.84 |
| 2011 | 1,609 | #221 | 0.85 |
| 2010 | 1,463 | #239 | 0.76 |
| 2009 | 1,523 | #235 | 0.77 |
| 2008 | 1,574 | #235 | 0.77 |
| 2007 | 1,599 | #232 | 0.77 |
| 2006 | 1,412 | #241 | 0.69 |
| 2005 | 1,435 | #237 | 0.72 |
| 2004 | 1,455 | #231 | 0.73 |
| 2003 | 1,590 | #220 | 0.80 |
| 2002 | 1,558 | #223 | 0.80 |
| 2001 | 1,331 | #251 | 0.69 |
| 2000 | 1,368 | #246 | 0.70 |
| 1999 | 1,241 | #253 | 0.65 |
| 1998 | 1,075 | #266 | 0.56 |
| 1997 | 1,040 | #271 | 0.55 |
| 1996 | 919 | #292 | 0.49 |
| 1995 | 774 | #331 | 0.41 |
| 1994 | 778 | #325 | 0.40 |
| 1993 | 691 | #348 | 0.35 |
| 1992 | 622 | #374 | 0.31 |
| 1991 | 499 | #443 | 0.25 |
| 1990 | 510 | #434 | 0.25 |
| 1989 | 421 | #459 | 0.21 |
| 1988 | 377 | #472 | 0.20 |
| 1987 | 325 | #493 | 0.17 |
| 1986 | 374 | #451 | 0.20 |
| 1985 | 332 | #475 | 0.18 |
| 1984 | 240 | #557 | 0.13 |
| 1983 | 208 | #591 | 0.12 |
| 1982 | 233 | #562 | 0.13 |
| 1981 | 208 | #597 | 0.12 |
| 1980 | 193 | #631 | 0.11 |
| 1979 | 184 | #635 | 0.11 |
| 1978 | 169 | #646 | 0.10 |
| 1977 | 134 | #740 | 0.08 |
| 1976 | 137 | #718 | 0.09 |
| 1975 | 126 | #746 | 0.08 |
| 1974 | 135 | #709 | 0.09 |
| 1973 | 129 | #709 | 0.08 |
| 1972 | 141 | #677 | 0.09 |
| 1971 | 130 | #726 | 0.07 |
| 1970 | 145 | #691 | 0.08 |
| 1969 | 115 | #731 | 0.06 |
| 1968 | 122 | #684 | 0.07 |
| 1967 | 109 | #712 | 0.06 |
| 1966 | 95 | #756 | 0.05 |
| 1965 | 102 | #735 | 0.05 |
| 1964 | 116 | #719 | 0.06 |
| 1963 | 143 | #654 | 0.07 |
| 1962 | 148 | #637 | 0.07 |
| 1961 | 161 | #625 | 0.08 |
| 1960 | 119 | #716 | 0.06 |
| 1959 | 153 | #625 | 0.07 |
| 1958 | 146 | #638 | 0.07 |
| 1957 | 167 | #595 | 0.08 |
| 1956 | 125 | #675 | 0.06 |
| 1955 | 109 | #703 | 0.05 |
| 1954 | 105 | #712 | 0.05 |
| 1953 | 101 | #712 | 0.05 |
| 1952 | 75 | #812 | 0.04 |
| 1951 | 74 | #822 | 0.04 |
| 1950 | 69 | #825 | 0.04 |
| 1949 | 70 | #819 | 0.04 |
| 1948 | 92 | #698 | 0.05 |
| 1947 | 67 | #852 | 0.04 |
| 1946 | 57 | #877 | 0.04 |
| 1945 | 50 | #915 | 0.04 |
| 1944 | 47 | #948 | 0.03 |
| 1943 | 63 | #836 | 0.04 |
| 1942 | 61 | #838 | 0.04 |
| 1941 | 52 | #887 | 0.04 |
| 1940 | 68 | #750 | 0.06 |
| 1939 | 61 | #783 | 0.06 |
| 1938 | 62 | #783 | 0.06 |
| 1937 | 49 | #895 | 0.05 |
| 1936 | 64 | #766 | 0.06 |
| 1935 | 80 | #669 | 0.08 |
| 1934 | 76 | #704 | 0.07 |
| 1933 | 82 | #641 | 0.08 |
| 1932 | 81 | #685 | 0.08 |
| 1931 | 72 | #728 | 0.07 |
| 1930 | 75 | #737 | 0.07 |
| 1929 | 59 | #868 | 0.05 |
| 1928 | 79 | #721 | 0.07 |
| 1927 | 75 | #761 | 0.07 |
| 1926 | 111 | #600 | 0.10 |
| 1925 | 75 | #765 | 0.07 |
| 1924 | 87 | #709 | 0.08 |
| 1923 | 78 | #744 | 0.07 |
| 1922 | 74 | #779 | 0.07 |
| 1921 | 57 | #938 | 0.05 |
| 1920 | 39 | #1,156 | 0.04 |
| 1919 | 28 | #1,384 | 0.03 |
| 1918 | 13 | #2,396 | 0.01 |
| 1917 | 7 | #3,542 | 0.01 |
| 1916 | 9 | #2,923 | 0.01 |
| 1915 | 12 | #2,307 | 0.01 |
| 1914 | 6 | #3,261 | 0.01 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Zane a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Zane has been given almost only to boys: 564 girls in 112 years of records.
Girls and boys named Zane: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Zane, and how old are they?
53,700 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 94% of the 57,228 Americans ever recorded as Zane. The median Zane alive today is 18 years old; half are between 10 and 27.
The 2020 Census counted 44,095 people named Zane (518 women and girls, 43,577 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 47,163 born in the U.S. The Census count is 7% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 228 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 1,480 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 1,940 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 7,260 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 22,700 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 20,100 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Zane born?
The states with the most babies named Zane are Texas, California and Florida, with 30% of its births recorded by state in 2025.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 121 | #312 | 1.1× |
| California | 114 | #320 | 0.7× |
| Florida | 74 | #278 | 0.8× |
| New York | 53 | #337 | 0.4× |
| Pennsylvania | 52 | #238 | 1.1× |
| Ohio | 43 | #286 | 1.2× |
| North Carolina | 36 | #329 | 0.9× |
| Georgia | 36 | #341 | 0.8× |
| Illinois | 31 | #349 | 0.6× |
| Tennessee | 29 | #310 | 0.9× |
Where Zane is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Zane is most over-represented in Montana: since 1914 it was given 2.2 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Zane with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 4 names spelled alike, given to 72,595 babies since 1880, Zane is the most given (79% of them). In 2025 it was given to 1,051 of their 1,753 babies (60%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Zane
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Zane and names like it
- Compare Zane and ZayneBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2010sZane peaked in 2018.
- Texas’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Zane since 1910.
- From surnamesWiktionary’s origin for Zane: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 2018The year the most babies were named Zane.
- The names of Generation ZMost people named Zane alive today were born 1997-2012.
- Names starting with ZMost given first.