Laney's name list

Zara has multiple origins, but most notably is a variation of Zahrah, a name derived from the Arabic zahrah, meaning "blooming flower." Zara can also be a diminutive of the Bulgarian name Zaharina, a feminine form of the Hebrew Zechariah. Today, Zara is heavily associated with the Spanish fast-fashion empire of the same name.

Zev is a short, simple, animal name that may relate to the Old Testament Ze'ev -- except he was a villainous character.

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 an eighteenth German botanist called Johann Gottfried Zinn, it appears in Roald Dahl's Matilda as the young protagonist's mother.

An international variation of Sophia that ranks in the Top 10 in Poland and the Top 1000 in England and Wales. Zosia is a charming diminutive.

Zora is a meaningful literary heroine name honoring Zora Neale Hurston, an important black writer and leader of the Harlem Renaissance.

This unusual and alluring choice was used by David Mamet for his daughter, who is now grown and an actress on the hit show Girls.

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.

Remember Zuzu, the adorable little girl you watch every Christmas in "It's a Wonderful Life"? Here's a direct path to that nickname, a lot more zesty than the more familiar Susannah.