Zaahir 1 m ArabicMeans
"shining, brilliant, radiant" in Arabic, derived from the root
زهر (zahara) meaning "to shine".
Zaahir 2 m ArabicMeans
"clear, evident, manifest, outward" in Arabic. In Islamic tradition
الظاهر (al-Zahir) is one of the 99 names of Allah.
Zababa m Sumerian MythologyMeaning unknown. This was the name of a Sumerian and Akkadian war god worshipped in the city-state of Kish.
Zaccai m BiblicalFrom the Hebrew name
זַכָּי (Zakkai) meaning
"pure". This is the name of a minor character in the Old Testament.
Zacchaeus m BiblicalFrom
Ζακχαῖος (Zakchaios), the Greek form of
Zaccai. According to the New Testament, Zacchaeus was a tax collector who climbed a tree in order to catch a glimpse of
Jesus, then gave half of his possessions to charity.
Zachariah m English, BiblicalVariant of
Zechariah. This spelling is used in the King James Version of the Old Testament to refer to one of the kings of Israel (called Zechariah in other versions).
Zachary m English, BiblicalUsual English form of
Zacharias, used in some English versions of the New Testament. This form has been in use since the Middle Ages, though it did not become common until after the Protestant Reformation. It was borne by American military commander and president Zachary Taylor (1784-1850).
Zadkiel m Judeo-Christian-Islamic LegendMeans
"God is my righteousness" in Hebrew. This is the name of an archangel associated with mercy in Jewish and Christian tradition, sometimes said to be the angel who stops
Abraham from sacrificing his son
Isaac.
Zadok m BiblicalMeans
"righteous" in Hebrew. This is the name of several characters in the Old Testament, most notably the high priest of Israel during the reigns of
David and
Solomon. Solomon was anointed by Zadok.
Zahi m ArabicMeans
"beautiful, brilliant" in Arabic.
Zaire m African American (Modern)From the name of a country in Africa from 1971 to 1997, now called the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is said to be derived from Kikongo
nzadi o nzere meaning
"river swallowing rivers", referring to the Congo River.
Zal m Persian MythologyMeans
"albino" in Persian. According to the 10th-century Persian epic the
Shahnameh this was the name of a white-haired warrior, the father of
Rostam.
Zalán m HungarianPossibly from the name of the region of Zala in western Hungary, itself named for the Zala River. This name used by the Hungarian poet Mihály Vörösmarty in his 1823 epic
Zalán Futása.
Zalmon m BiblicalMeans
"shady" in Hebrew. This is the name of one of
David's mighty men in the Old Testament.
Zan f & m ChineseFrom Chinese
赞 (zàn) meaning "help, support", as well as other characters with a similar pronunciation.
Zane 1 m EnglishFrom an English surname of unknown meaning. It was introduced as a given name by American author Zane Grey (1872-1939). Zane was in fact his middle name — it had been his mother's maiden name.
Zanokuhle f & m Xhosa, ZuluMeans
"come with goodness" in Zulu and Xhosa, from the roots
za "to come, to approach" and
hle "beautiful, good".
Zarathustra m HistoryFrom Avestan
𐬰𐬀𐬭𐬀𐬚𐬎𐬱𐬙𐬭𐬀 (Zarathushtra), in which the second element is
𐬎𐬱𐬙𐬭𐬀 (ushtra) meaning "camel". Proposed meanings for the first element include "old", "moving", "angry" and "yellow". Zarathustra was an Iranian prophet who founded the ancient religion of Zoroastrianism around the 10th century BC. He is also called
Zoroaster in English, from the Greek form of his name
Ζωροάστρης (Zoroastres).
Zayd m ArabicDerived from Arabic
زاد (zada) meaning
"to increase". This was the name of a slave who became the adopted son of the Prophet
Muhammad.
Zayn m ArabicMeans
"beauty, grace" in Arabic. This was the name of a son of
Husayn ibn Ali. Shia Muslims consider him to be the fourth imam.
... [more] Zbigniew m PolishDerived from the Slavic elements
jĭzbyti "to dispel" and
gněvŭ "anger". This was the name of a 12th-century duke of Poland.
Zebadiah m BiblicalMeans
"Yahweh has bestowed" in Hebrew. This is the name of several Old Testament characters.
Zebedee m BiblicalFrom
Ζεβεδαῖος (Zebedaios), the Greek form of
Zebadiah used in the New Testament, where it refers to the father of the apostles James and John.
Zebulun m BiblicalFrom Hebrew
זְבוּל (zevul) meaning
"exalted house". In the Old Testament Zebulun is the tenth son of
Jacob (his sixth son by
Leah) and the ancestor of one of the twelve tribes of Israel.
Genesis 30:20 connects the name to the related verb
זָבַל (zaval), translated as "exalt, honour" or "dwell with" in different versions of the Bible, when Leah says
my husband will exalt/dwell with me.
Zechariah m Biblical, EnglishFrom the Hebrew name
זְכַרְיָה (Zekharyah) meaning
"Yahweh remembers", from
זָכַר (zakhar) meaning "to remember" and
יָה (yah) referring to the Hebrew God. This is the name of many characters in the Old Testament, including the prophet Zechariah, the author of the Book of Zechariah. The name also appears in the New Testament belonging to the father of
John the Baptist, who was temporarily made dumb because of his disbelief. He is regarded as a saint by Christians. In some versions of the New Testament his name is spelled in the Greek form
Zacharias or the English form
Zachary. As an English given name,
Zechariah has been in occasional use since the Protestant Reformation.
Zedong m & f ChineseFrom Chinese
泽 (zé) meaning "moist, grace, brilliance" combined with
东 (dōng) meaning "east", as well as other character combinations. A notable bearer was the founder of the People's Republic of China, Mao Zedong (1893-1976).
Zeferino m PortuguesePortuguese form of the Roman name
Zephyrinus, which was derived from the Greek
Zephyros (see
Zephyr). Saint Zephyrinus was a 3rd-century pope.
Zeki m TurkishMeans
"intelligent" in Turkish, ultimately from Arabic
ذكيّ (dhakiy).
Želimir m Croatian, SerbianDerived from Serbo-Croatian
želeti "to wish, to desire" combined with the Slavic element
mirŭ "peace, world".
Zelophehad m BiblicalPossibly means either
"first born" or
"shadow from terror" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament, Zelophehad is a man who dies while the Israelites are wandering in the wilderness, leaving five daughters as heirs.
Zeno m Ancient Greek (Latinized), ItalianFrom the Greek name
Ζήνων (Zenon), which was derived from the name of the Greek god
Zeus (the poetic form of his name being
Ζήν). Zeno was the name of two famous Greek philosophers: Zeno of Elea and Zeno of Citium, the founder of the Stoic school in Athens.
Zephaniah m BiblicalFrom the Hebrew name
צְפַנְיָה (Tzefanyah) meaning
"Yahweh has hidden", derived from
צָפַן (tzafan) meaning "to hide" and
יָה (yah) referring to the Hebrew God. This is the name of one of the twelve minor prophets of the Old Testament, the author of the Book of Zephaniah.
Zerah m BiblicalMeans
"dawning, shining" in Hebrew. This is the name of a son of
Judah and the twin of
Perez in the Old Testament.
Zétény m HungarianPossibly from the Old Slavic root
zętĭ meaning
"son-in-law".
Zeus m Greek MythologyThe name of a Greek god, related to the old Indo-European god *
Dyēws, from the root *
dyew- meaning
"sky" or
"shine". In Greek mythology he was the highest of the gods. After he and his siblings defeated the Titans, Zeus ruled over the earth and humankind from atop Mount Olympus. He had control over the weather and his weapon was a thunderbolt.
... [more] Zhandos m KazakhFrom Kazakh
жан (zhan) meaning "soul" and
дос (dos) meaning "friend" (both of Persian origin).
Zhen f & m ChineseFrom Chinese
珍 (zhēn) meaning "precious, rare",
真 (zhēn) meaning "real, genuine",
贞 (zhēn) meaning "virtuous, chaste, loyal", or other Chinese characters that are pronounced similarly.
Zheng m & f ChineseFrom Chinese
正 (zhèng) meaning "right, proper, correct" or
政 (zhèng) meaning "government", as well as other hanja characters with a similar pronunciation.
Zhi m & f ChineseFrom Chinese
志 (zhì) meaning "will, purpose, ambition" or
智 (zhì) meaning "wisdom, intellect", as well as other characters that are pronounced similarly.
Zhihao m & f ChineseFrom Chinese
志 (zhì) meaning "will, purpose, ambition" or
智 (zhì) meaning "wisdom, intellect" combined with
豪 (háo) meaning "brave, heroic, chivalrous". Many other character combinations are possible.
Zhong m & f ChineseFrom Chinese
中 (zhōng) meaning "middle" or
忠 (zhōng) meaning "loyalty, devotion". Other characters can form this name as well.
Zhou m & f ChineseFrom Chinese
舟 (zhōu) meaning "boat, ship", in addition to other characters that are pronounced similarly.
Zhulong m Chinese MythologyFrom Chinese
烛 (zhú) meaning "candle, torch, light" and
龙 (lóng) meaning "dragon". In Chinese mythology this was the name of a giant scarlet serpent, also called the Torch Dragon in English.
Ziba 2 m BiblicalMeans
"station" in Hebrew. This was the name of a servant of Saul in the Old Testament.
Ziemowit m PolishFrom an old Polish name derived from the elements
sěmĭja "family" and
vitŭ "master, lord". This was the name of a semi-legendary duke of Poland. It was also borne by several other Piast rulers of Masovia.
Zigor m BasqueMeans
"rod, staff" or
"punishment" in Basque.
Zikomo m & f ChewaMeans
"thank you, greeting" in Chewa.
Zimri m BiblicalMeans
"my praise" or
"my music" in Hebrew. This was the name of a king of Israel according to the Old Testament. He ruled for only seven days, when he was succeeded by the commander of the army
Omri. Another Zimri in the Old Testament was the the lover of the Midianite woman
Cozbi.
Zion m Jewish, BiblicalFrom the name of a citadel that was in the center of Jerusalem. Zion is also used to refer to a Jewish homeland and to heaven.
Ziv m & f HebrewMeans
"bright, radiant" in Hebrew. This was the ancient name of the second month of the Jewish calendar.
Ziya m Arabic, TurkishDerived from Arabic
ضياء (diya) meaning
"splendour, light, glow". This was the name of a 14th-century Islamic Indian historian.
Ziya ad-Din m ArabicMeans
"splendour of religion" from Arabic
ضياء (diya) meaning "splendour, light, glow" combined with
دين (din) meaning "religion, faith".
Zoilus m Ancient Greek (Latinized)Latinized form of Greek
Ζωΐλος (Zoilos), derived from
ζωή (zoe) meaning
"life". This name was borne by a 4th-century BC Greek philosopher known as a critic of Homer, and also by two Indo-Greek kings. Saint Zoilus was martyred at Córdoba, Spain during the persecutions of the Roman emperor Diocletian in the early 4th century.
Zola 2 f & m XhosaFrom the Xhosa root
-zola meaning
"calm".
Zoltán m Hungarian, SlovakPossibly related to the Turkish title
sultan meaning
"king, sultan". This was the name of a 10th-century ruler of Hungary, also known as Zsolt.
Zopyros m Ancient GreekMeans
"glowing" in Greek. This was the name of a Persian nobleman who aided his king Darius in the capture of Babylon. He did this by mutilating himself and then going to the Babylonians claiming that it had been Darius who did it to him. After gaining their trust he betrayed them.
Zorro m Literature, Popular CultureMeans
"fox" in Spanish. This is the name of a masked vigilante created by writer Johnston McCulley in 1919 for a series of books, later adapted into movies and television.
Zubair m Arabic, UrduDerived from Arabic
زبر (zubar) meaning
"iron". Zubair ibn al-Awwam was a cousin of the Prophet
Muhammad and an early Muslim military commander.
Zulfiqar m Arabic, UrduFrom Arabic
ذو الفقار (Dhu al-Faqar) interpreted as meaning
"cleaver of the spine", derived from
ذو (dhu) meaning "possessor, holder" and
فقار (faqar) meaning "spine, vertebra". This was the name of the Prophet
Muhammad's sword, also used by his son-in-law
Ali.
Zuriel m BiblicalMeans
"my rock is God" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament this name is borne by a chief of the Merarite Levites at the time of the Exodus.
Zviadi m GeorgianForm of
Zviad with the nominative suffix, used when the name is written stand-alone.
Zvonimir m CroatianDerived from the Slavic elements
zvonŭ "sound, chime" and
mirŭ "peace, world". Dmitar Zvonimir was an 11th-century Croatian king.
Žydrūnas m LithuanianFrom Lithuanian
žydra meaning
"light blue" (using the patronymic suffix
ūnas).