Meaning & origin
What it means
One interpretation is “wolf.”
Where it comes from
Zeev is a variant of Ze'ev. An origin associated with Ze'ev is Hebrew.
Explained through its name family
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1991. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Zeev through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 108
- 108 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2020
- 10 babies
- 2025
- 6
- #11,986 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +100%
- Rising fast
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 6 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 11,986 among boys’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 352 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 1
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
See also 2
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Zeev
- Zeev SternhellIsraeli historian (1935-2020)
- Zeev SuraskiIsraeli computer scientistborn 1976
- Zeev BuiumAmerican ice hockey playerborn 2005
- Zeev Ben-ZviIsraeli sculptor (1904–1952)
- Zeev RechterIsraeli architect (1899–1960)
- Zeev RudnickIsraeli mathematicianborn 2000
- Zeev KunIsraeli painter (1930–2024)
- Zeev Latskypolitician1881–1940
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.