ZebulunmBiblical Derived from 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.
Zelda 2fEnglish Short form of Griselda. This is the name of a princess in the Legend of Zelda video games, debuting in 1986 and called ゼルダ (Zeruda) in Japanese. According to creator Shigeru Miyamoto she was named after the American socialite Zelda Fitzgerald (1900-1948).
ŽelimirmCroatian, Serbian Derived from Serbo-Croatian želeti "to wish, to desire" combined with the Slavic element mirŭ "peace, world".
ZelimkhanmChechen Combination of the name Salim and the Turkic title khan meaning "ruler, leader".
ZemfirafAzerbaijani, Tatar, Bashkir, Literature Meaning unknown, possibly of Romani origin. This name was (first?) used by Aleksandr Pushkin in his poem The Gypsies (1827).
ZenafEnglish Meaning unknown. It could be a variant of Xenia or a diminutive of names featuring this sound, such as Alexina, Rosina or Zenobia. This name has occasionally been used since the 19th century.
ZenaidafLate Greek Apparently a Greek derivative of Ζηναΐς (Zenais), which was derived from the name of the Greek god Zeus. This was the name of a 1st-century saint who was a doctor with her sister Philonella.
ZenobiafAncient Greek Means "life of Zeus", derived from Greek Ζηνός (Zenos) meaning "of Zeus" and βίος (bios) meaning "life". This was the name of the queen of the Palmyrene Empire, which broke away from Rome in the 3rd-century and began expanding into Roman territory. She was eventually defeated by the emperor Aurelian. Her Greek name was used as an approximation of her native Aramaic name.
ZerachielmJudeo-Christian-Islamic Legend Possibly means "command of God" in Hebrew. The Book of Enoch names him as one of the seven archangels. His name is sometimes rendered as Sarakiel.
ZeusmGreek Mythology The 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]
Zhengm & fChinese From Chinese 正 (zhèng) meaning "right, proper, correct" or 政 (zhèng) meaning "government", as well as other hanja characters with a similar pronunciation.
Zhihaom & fChinese From 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.
ZopyrosmAncient Greek Means "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.
ZoraidafSpanish Perhaps means "enchanting" or "dawn" in Arabic. This was the name of a minor 12th-century Spanish saint, a convert from Islam. The name was used by Cervantes for a character in his novel Don Quixote (1606), in which Zoraida is a beautiful Moorish woman of Algiers who converts to Christianity and elopes with a Spanish officer.
ZosimusmAncient Greek (Latinized) Latinized form of Ζώσιμος (Zosimos), a Greek name derived from ζώσιμος (zosimos) meaning "viable" or "likely to survive". This was the name of several early saints and a pope.
ZubaidafArabic, Urdu Means "elite, prime, cream" in Arabic. This was the name of a 9th-century wife of Harun ar-Rashid, the Abbasid caliph featured in the stories of The 1001 Nights.
ZuleikafLiterature Meaning uncertain, possibly of Arabic origin. According to medieval tradition, notably related by the 15th-century Persian poet Jami, this was the name of the biblical Potiphar's wife. She has been a frequent subject of poems and tales.
ZulfiqarmArabic, Urdu From Arabic ذو الفقار (Dhū al-Faqār) interpreted as meaning "cleaver of the spine", derived from ذو (dhū) meaning "possessor, holder" and فقار (faqār) meaning "spine, vertebra". This was the name of the Prophet Muhammad's sword, also used by his son-in-law Ali.