Explore the Family Name Zain

The meaning of Zain

Muslim: from the Arabic male personal name Zain ‘ornament, beauty’, which also occurs in compound names such as Zain ul-ʿĀbidīn ‘ornament of the worshipers’ (see Abedin). Compare Zein.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Zain in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname Zain showed a noticeable increase between the years 2000 and 2010. In 2000, Zain was the 85,297th most common surname, but by 2010 it had risen to become the 81,181st most common surname. This represents an upward shift of about 4.83% in its ranking. In terms of actual numbers, people bearing the surname Zain were numbered at 204 in 2000 and increased to 233 in 2010, marking a growth of 14.22%. However, in proportion per 100,000 individuals, there was no significant change.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#85,297	#81,181	4.83%
Count	204	233	14.22%
Proportion per 100k	0.08	0.08	0%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Zain

In terms of ethnic identity, the Decennial U.S. Census data reveals some shifts between 2000 and 2010. The percentage of Zains identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander increased by approximately 26.63%, going from 27.45% in 2000 to 34.76% in 2010. There was a decrease in those identifying as White, dropping from 55.39% to 45.06% during the same period. The proportion identifying as part of two or more races also fell significantly by nearly 40% over the ten-year span. Interestingly, those identifying as Black saw an increase from 6.86% to 10.73%, while the Hispanic category saw a total drop to zero. No data was reported for American Indian and Alaskan Native categories in both census years.

	2000	2010	Change
White	55.39%	45.06%	-18.65%
Asian/Pacific Islander	27.45%	34.76%	26.63%
Black	6.86%	10.73%	56.41%
Two or More Races	7.84%	4.72%	-39.8%
Hispanic	2.45%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%