Zadig

Zadig is the name of the hero and philosopher in Voltaire's 1747 novella, Zadig, ou la Destinée ("Zadig, or The Book of Fate"), though it may be better associated today with the fashion retailer Zadig&Voltaire whose name was inspired by the classic work.

Derived from the Arabic Sadiq, meaning "true, sincere, loyal" or from the Hebrew tzadik, a title for a righteous person, it may also be viewed as an Armenian choice, stemming from the word for Easter. The pronunciation can vary depending on where you are in the world: in French, it would be ZA-DEEK, in Armenian, it would be zah-DEEG; in English, it may be said as ZA-deeg.

Recent years have seen it gain attention in modern France as a quirky-chic choice.

Pronounced zah-DEEG.