Zinnia is an unusual floral choice with a bit more edge and energy than most and beginning to find its way onto namers' wish lists of botanical possibilities. Named after the 18th-century German botanist Johann Gottfried Zinn, it appears in Roald Dahl's Matilda as the young protagonist's mother.

Now that Zoe is getting wildly popular in the U.S. and the U.K. -- one poll puts it at number one in Wales -- parents may start hunting down fresh twists like this.

Authors or Francophiles – or both – could consider this zippy name in honor of renowned French writer Émile Zola, author of Germinal, Thérèse Raquin and the infamous open letter J'Accuse...!.

Zsa Zsa is a zippy Hungarian nickname name, sometimes used independently, linked for decades with the Hungarian-born actress Zsa Zsa Gabor--who was born Sari.

Both a first and last name, Zorina has a pretty, ballerina-like quality.

Makes Jane anything but plain.

Zahira is the feminine form of Zahir. Some may relate it to the more familiar Zahara.