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Z Names: Beyond Zoe & Zachary

Z Names: Beyond Zoe & Zachary

There were 10,000 Zacharys born last year and almost 5,000 Zoes, but that was about it for Z-starting names in the Top 100.  This doesn’t mean there aren’t  lots of other names with this distinctive initial worth considering, from the contemporary sounding Zayden to the ecclesiastical Zebediah.  Here’s a categorical breakdown:

MAINSTREAM GIRL NAMES THAT START WITH Z

ZELDA –The longest running American Z-girl, in the Top 1000 for most of the years from 1880 to 1967, the now dated sounding Zelda was long attached to the troubled wife of writer F. Scott Fitzgerald, though that could change through its association with a Nintendo game character.ZOE — Sharing mega-popularity with cousin Chloe, the Greek Zoe–which means life–is currently at #56, with offshoots ZOEY and ZOIE following behind. Though it sounds and feels modern, its use dates back to the third century.ZARA –This name entered the mainstream in the early 1980s when England‘s Princess Anne bestowed it on her daughter.

MAINSTREAM BOY NAMES THAT START WITH Z

ZACHARY –In the Top 100 for a quatrter of a century, peaking at #12 in 1994, Zachary is the one classic Z name. The English version of the Hebrew Zahariah, it also has historic cred via 12th President Zachary Taylor, and several coolizing spellings and short forms.

ZANE — One of the short, strong boys’ names zipping up the list, the cowboyish Zane was long associated with western writer Zane Gray–who was actually christened Pearl!!!

BIBLICAL BOYS

ZACCHEUSZACHARIAHZEBEDEEZEBEDIAHZEBULONZEDEKIAH

NOUVEAU NAMES

ZABEZADEZADEN/ZAYDENZAILEYZALEZELL — hero of video game Final FantasyZENZEPHYRZEROZERRICKZHANE

NICKNAME NAMES

ZAC, ZAKZAKO –HungarianZANDER — Diminutive of Alexander on the rise as an independent name, frequently heard as movie and TV charactersZAZA, ZSA ZSA –HungarianZEBZEDZEKEZIGGYZUZIZUZU –heard annually via It’s a Wonderful Life

EXOTIC GIRLS

ZABANA –Native AmericanZAFIRA — ArabicZAHARA — Multicultural name chosen by Angelina Jolie for her Ethiopian-born daughterZAHRA — Arabic name used for several starbabiesZALA — AfricanZANNA — PolishZARIA — ArabicZENA — GreekZETA — GreekZILLA — HebrewZINA — AfricanZINAIDA — RussianZITA — Greek

EXOTIC BOYS

ZAFAR — ArabicZAHAVI — HebrewZAHIR — ArabicZAHN — GermanZAIRE — African place nameZAKI — AracicZAMIEL — GermanZARED — HebrewZEVI — HebrewZIV/ZVI — HebrewZOLTAN/ZOLTEN — HungarianZUBIN –HebrewZURI — African

Z VARIATIONS OF S NAMES

ZADIEZALMANZANDYZANDRAZELENAZELIAZELMAZOFIAZUZANNA

OTHERS

ZELIG — Yiddish name made famous by the eponymous Woody Allen movieZENO — Ancient Greek philosopher nameZENOBIA — Greek name appearing in Hawthorne and Edith Wharton novelsZEUS — Supreme Greek Olympian godZHIVAGO — Russian literary nameZION — Hebrew unisex name now rising for both girls and boysZINNIA — An appealing floral choice with more zest than most.ZOLA — French literary name used by Eddie Murphy for his daughterZOOEY — Male Salinger name now growing in popularity for girlsZORA — Slavic name associated with writer Zora Neale Hurston, a leader of the Harlem RenaissanceZULEIKA — Arabic name of the fatally attractive heroine of Max Beerbohn’s Zuleika Dobson

About the Author

Linda Rosenkrantz

Linda Rosenkrantz

Linda Rosenkrantz is the co-founder of Nameberry, and co-author with Pamela Redmond of the ten baby naming books acknowledged to have revolutionized American baby naming. You can follow her personally at InstagramTwitter and Facebook. She is also the author of the highly acclaimed New York Review Books Classics novel Talk and a number of other books.