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Zeph

#13,902 in 2025Boys' name

Short form of Zephaniah

Zeph has been given to 112 babies in the U.S. since 1992. In 2025 it ranked #13,902 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2001, with 11 recorded.

Babies named Zeph, 2025

1 in 663,000

Zeph over time, 1880–2025

Boys
05101518801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Zeph: meaning, origin, and history

Short form of Zephaniah

Hebrew

What Zeph means

Zeph is a short form of Zephaniah.

Documented naming usage and pronunciation

Zeph is used in English.

Another recorded pronunciation is /ˈzɛf/ for Zeph.

Meaning behind the documented name family

The name developed through Zeph → Zephaniah. The family’s meaning is “Yahweh has hidden”, recorded in the naming reference for Zephaniah.

Origin, language, and formation

Zeph is used in English. Its origins include Hebrew.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Zephaniah.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 112 boys were recorded with the name Zeph between 1992 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 11 in 2001; its best national rank was #6,436 in 2001.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #14,029 in 2020 to #13,902 in 2025.

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 Zeph?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 663,000
5 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 342,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#13,902
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
459,581 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Zeph 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 2025 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 459,581 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Zeph. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Zephs were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Zeph was born before 2014 — so the typical Zeph is around 11 today.

Median birth year
2014
About 11 years old
Biggest decade
2000s
33.0% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
86.6%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
112
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2000s — 33.0% of all recorded uses (37).

Is Zeph 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
−1,574
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
+127
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
—
Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago
—
Not published both years
Share of its own peak
45.5%
Peak was 2001 (11)
Years since peak
24
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
27.0% average annual change
Best rank ever
#6,436
2001

Spellings of Zeph

Zeph is not the most common spelling — Seth is, with 84.2% against Zeph's 0.06%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Zeph around the world

Where Zeph ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    2001–2024
    #4,271
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1983–2005
    #643
    in 2005

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Zeph by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#13,902
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 127
Best rank ever
#6,436
2001
Peak year
2001
11 that year
First recorded
1992
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
112
Count in 2025
5

Names similar to Zeph

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

ZeplinAlephZepplinZephyrusZephanJoephZephenOsephJozephSephZepplynZeplynJsoephZephyrYosephJhosephZephynZephrynZephramZeppelinZephonJoshephEphSteph

Sibling names for Zeph

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 Zeph

Top names of 2001, Zeph's peak yearThe 2000s in fullOther names that peaked in 2001Boys' names starting with Z