Name Awesome

Zef

Boys' name

Diminutive of Jozef

Zef has been given to 44 babies in the U.S. since 1973. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1973, with 6 recorded.

Babies named Zef, 2023

1 in 663,000

Zef over time, 1880–2025

Boys
024618801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Zef: meaning, origin, and history

Diminutive of Jozef

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Zef means

Zef is a diminutive of Jozef.

Origin, language, and formation

Zef is used in Albanian.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Jozef.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Albanian, Zef is pronounced /zɛf/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 44 boys were recorded with the name Zef between 1973 and 2023. Its highest annual count was 6 in 1973; its best national rank was #5,097 in 1973.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Zef?

Zef had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2023, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2023
1 in 663,000
5 of 3,314,783 births
Among boys only
1 in 342,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2023
Unranked
Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size
459,528 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Zef sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2023 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 459,528 children born in 2023 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Zef. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Zefs were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Zef was born before 2000 — so the typical Zef is around 25 today.

Median birth year
2000
About 25 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
27.3% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
52.3%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
44
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 27.3% of all recorded uses (12).

Is Zef rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
—
Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago
New entry
Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago
—
Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago
—
Not published both years
Share of its own peak
0%
Peak was 1973 (6)
Years since peak
52
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Not enough data
Too few years
Best rank ever
#5,097
1973

Zef by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#5,097
1973
Peak year
1973
6 that year
First recorded
1973
Last recorded
2023
All-time count
44
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Zef

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

ZeframJozefZeferino

Sibling names for Zef

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Zef

Top names of 1973, Zef's peak yearThe 1970s in fullOther names that peaked in 1973Boys' names starting with ZAlbanian Boy Names