Given name & surname
Zoltan
“a kingly man; a sultan”
Zoltan is used as a given name and a surname. One Hungarian interpretation is “a kingly man; a sultan.” Its derivation is not certain.
Original HungarianZoltán
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Hungarian interpretation is “a kingly man; a sultan.” Its derivation is not certain.
Where it comes from
A possible origin is Hungarian, although the derivation remains uncertain.
How it developed
From Hungarian Zoltán, from Ottoman Turkish سلطان (sultan), from Arabic سُلْطَان (“ruler”); its root is Arabic س ل ط.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1912. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Zoltan through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 1,024
- 1,024 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1967
- 25 babies
- 2025
- 5
- #13,919 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −22%
- Easing
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 5 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 13,919 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 22.2% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 25 in 1967. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 2,021 as a first name in 2020; 159 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Zoltan’s family of names
In English usage, Zoltan shares an earlier linguistic root with Sultan. Zoltan has a related form in Zsolt. Zoltan has a related form in Zoltane.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 5
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 2
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Zoltan
- Zoltan IstvanAmerican writer, futurist, philosopher and transhumanistborn 1973
- Zoltan Klugerphotographer1896–1977
- Zoltan CrișanRomanian footballer (1955-2003)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Zoltan, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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