Zen is a word name taken from the Japanese term for the school of Buddhism that centers on meditation; the word goes back through Chinese chan to the Sanskrit dhyana, "meditation". In English it has come to stand for "calm" and "inner peace", which is exactly the mood modern parents reach for. In the United States Zen entered the top 1000 in 2022 with a peak of number 906 and ranks 1144 in 2025.