Z Names For Boys

Since my favorite all-Z pregnant namer doesn’t know what she is having, she was all Hey, what the heck! Do some boys names!  Okay. Please see our last post for the girls for an explanation of what you are seeing, because the same info and tips apply here. These are real names that are used in America, albeit somewhat rarely.

Zihao/ Zi Hao
Zimri
Zigmund
Zerik
Zepplin
Zamiel
Zalan
Zao
Zebastian
Zoren
Zale
Zaiah
Zerrion
Zvi
Zarius
Zeleg
Zeven
Zaith
Zorian
Zay
Zai
Zurich
Zoltan
Zaxton
Zealand
Zaide
Zuri

Penn Provenance Project

Blasts from the Past-  Names Actually Used in our Grandparents’ Generation:

Zebbie
Zenas
Zenon
Zeferino
Zollie

And… after seeing so many names start with Z, it no longer looks like a letter. 😛

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Z Names for Girls

One of our most active fans on our page has children whose names all begin with the letter Z. She is now expecting a new addition very soon and has had a hard time this time around falling in love with the perfect Z girls name. It got me thinking.

Z is one of the least common letters to name with, but certainly one of the coolest. People are drawn to it for its sharp sound and appearance. When there is a shortage of tried and true, appealing Z names, people often take to making more up. At First & Middle Baby Names, we are not opposed to creative names… we just urge that you do so intelligently. 🙂

So can we brainstorm some Z names? Here are some actual Z names being used (sparingly) for baby girls, according to the Social Security Administration of the USA. Some are obviously inspired by other names we recognize, some are well established in their own right, and some may be anyone’s guess.

Zhanna
Zakera
Zaliya
Zeyana
Zory
Ziarah
Zurisaday
Zyrihanna
Zohra
Zurielle
Zaybree
Zemora
Zasha
Zenith
Zylie
Zabella
Zyniah
Zivah
Zenobia
Zanya
Zyra
Zionna

Blasts From the Past– Names Actually Used in Our Grandparents Generation:

Zelphia
Zonia
Zela
Zoraida
Zannie
Zeta
Zadie
Zettie

Please Note:  Made up names don’t always have legitimate meanings, so sometimes you get the honor of making one up yourself (think of it as being a language pioneer). This is best, however, when you made the name up yourself and the name has no clear origin or reference to already established names.

Do My Z Names Mean What I Think They Do?

Colleen:  Well I believed the baby name books on my first four kids and now im worried they dont really mean what I think they mean. Thanks for that! 😛 I have a Zaynah, Zeke, Zoey, Zachary.

Elizabeth: What do you think they mean… ?

Colleen: Beautiful, god given strength, life, god remembers

Elizabeth: Yeah, that’s mostly accurate.

Zaynah is an Arabic name, ضایٔنه , and refers to beauty or beautiful. I’ve seen other sources suggest it is related to a word that simply means “good”.

Zeke is a short form of Ezekiel. Ezekiel means “strength of God” (or similar), but in shortening it to Zeke, you removed the root word for “God”. So, Zeke means only “strength“. The “God given” would be totally implied, as it is no longer in the name at all.

Ancient names with religious background are very special and beloved, but over the millennia they have undergone transformations which may, in essence, alter their meanings.

Zoey definitely means life.

Zachary can definitely be interpreted to mean God remembers.

I’d say you did pretty good, and the name books didn’t steer you too wrong this time. 😉 Name books will often lazily conclude that a shortened version of a name means the exact same thing as the original, but in many names such as Hebrew ones, where the root words can clearly be divided and meaning determined, it should be expressed how the compound is altered.

“You mean THIS is what our ancestors lived in???”

Think of compound words in our own language… take treehouse. Say your kids decided to call it “house” for short, instead of treehouse. If a dictionary 200 years in the future tells you that “house” means the same as “treehouse”, how accurate would you consider that? Not very, right? File this under Reason #3 why I’m not too fond of most baby name books.

If you have questions about the accuracy of interpretation of your kids’ names, ask Elizabeth!

UPDATE May 2013:  Colleen welcomed a son– Zander!