Zev

• Origin: Hebrew זְאֵב
• Meaning: “Wolf.”
• Gender: Male
• Pron: (ZEV)
• Variations: Zeev, Ze’ev (zeh-EV)
• Female Forms: Ze’eva, Ze’evit, Zeeva, Ziva, Zivit

The name was a calque created by Ashkenazi Jews as a translation of the popular Yiddish-Germanic name Wolf/Volf. It was later associated with the Hebrew name Benjamin (Binyamin), owing to the biblical association of the Tribe of Benjamin with the wolf. In Genesis 49:27, Jacob describes his son Benjamin as “a ravenous wolf,” and the wolf subsequently became a traditional emblem of the Tribe of Benjamin. As a result, Wolf or Volf was sometimes used as a secular or vernacular companion name (kinnui) for Benjamin among Ashkenazi Jews.

Zev currently ranks as the 864th Most Popular Male Name in the United States (2025), and the 486th Most Popular Male Name in the Netherlands (2025).

Sources

• https://www.behindthename.com/name/zev
• Beider, Alexander. A Handbook of Ashkenazic Given Names and Their Variants. Bergenfield, NJ: Avotaynu, 2009.