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Across the world, 禅 (Zen , 禅 , Shàn) is a common unisex forename. The first name 禅 is characteristic of Mongolia, where it is a common girly name, Syria, where it is quite a common dominantly male, but seldom feminine name, and Brunei, where it is quite a rare male name. Measured by absolute frequency, the name is most common in Indonesia, Mongolia, and Syria. More frequently, 禅 is the last name as well as the forename.
禅 is also a name for the fictitious and mythical characters: Zen , the operatic character in the opera What Next? by Elliott Carter; a supposed seer and not much else; Zen Cartman , the Eric Cartman's Mystical set card in South Park: Phone Destroyer. and Zen , the character from "Blake's 7".