The variation of Zero Steric Potential (ZSP) through a C-C bond shows two maximums, which their values depend on the bond order (BO). A good relationship (R-2 = 1) is observed between the mean values of maximum ZSPs and the bond orders of C-C bonds in ethane, ethylene and acetylene, as reference molecules (Ln BO = 1.956 ZSP(max) - 0.898). The obtained equation is used to predict the C-C bond orders of more than twenty aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons. The results show that the obtained bond orders from ZSP(max) are more reliable than those which are evaluated using NBO and Laplacian methods. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.