Z Names - alphabetical order

A nouveau member of the Aidan/Braden/Jaden group. Yet another variation on a too-trendy genre -- never the most original way to go, even if there aren't yet many Zadens on your block. Still, a Z initial always adds zest and this is a name many boys would love to have for their very own.

When aspiring British writer Sadie Smith decided to change her name to the more distinctive and zippy Zadie at the age of fourteen, this attention-magnet name was born. But though it might sound like a modern initial-switch, Zadie was actually Number 539 in 1881, remaining in the Top 1000 for almost thirty years.

There's Zan and there's Xan--take your pick. Both of these are the latest generation of Alexander nicknames, Xan having been noticed first as a character on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (a rich source of names), and soon phoneticized into Zan. The spellings are running neck and neck in popularity, with Xan slightly ahead, while other parents prefer the longer forms, Xander and Zander, both of which also rank in the two hundreds.