Zarina f Uzbek, Kazakh, Tajik, Urdu, MalayFrom Persian
زرین (zarin) meaning
"golden". According to the 5th-century BC Greek historian Ctesias, this was the name of a Scythian queen.
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] Zaynab f ArabicMeaning uncertain. It is possibly related to Arabic
زين (zayn) meaning "beauty"; it could be from the name of a fragrant flowering tree; or it could be an Arabic form of
Zenobia, a name borne by a pre-Islamic queen of Palmyra. Zaynab was the name of a daughter, a granddaughter, and two wives of the Prophet
Muhammad.
Zazil f MayanMeans
"clear, light, clarity" in Yucatec Maya. Zazil Há was a 16th-century Maya woman who married the Spanish shipwreck survivor Gonzalo Guerrero.
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.
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).
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.
Zeltzin f NahuatlNahuatl name of uncertain meaning, said to mean
"delicate".
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.
Zenobia f Ancient GreekMeans
"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.
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).
Zhansaya f KazakhFrom Kazakh
жан (zhan) meaning "soul" and
сая (saya) meaning "shadow, shade, protection, comfort" (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.
Zibiah f BiblicalMeans
"gazelle" or
"doe" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament this is the name of the mother of King Joash of Judah.
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.
Zinnia f English (Rare)From the name of the flower, which was itself named for the German botanist Johann Zinn.
Ziv m & f HebrewMeans
"bright, radiant" in Hebrew. This was the ancient name of the second month of the Jewish calendar.
Živa f Slavic Mythology, Slovene, SerbianFrom the Old Slavic word
živŭ meaning
"alive, living". According to the 12th-century Saxon priest Helmold, this was the name of a Slavic goddess possibly associated with life or fertility.
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".
Zoe f English, Italian, Spanish, German, Czech, Ancient GreekMeans
"life" in Greek. From early times it was adopted by Hellenized Jews as a translation of
Eve. It was borne by two early Christian saints, one martyred under Emperor Hadrian, the other martyred under Diocletian. The name was common in the Byzantine Empire, being borne by a ruling empress of the 11th century.
... [more] Zohreh f PersianMeans
"Venus (planet)" in Persian, borrowed from Arabic
الزهرة (al-Zuharah), derived from the root
زهر (zahara) meaning "to shine".
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 1 f EnglishMeaning unknown, perhaps an invented name. It has been in occasional use in the English-speaking world since the 19th century. It coincides with an Italian surname, a famous bearer being the French-Italian author Émile Zola (1840-1902).
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.
Zona f VariousMeans
"girdle, belt" in Greek. This name was made popular by the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and poet Zona Gale (1874-1938).
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.
Zoraida f SpanishPerhaps 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.
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.
Zubaida f Arabic, UrduMeans
"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.
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.
Zuhra 2 f Arabic (Rare)Means
"brilliancy, light" in Arabic, derived from the root
زهر (zahara) meaning "to shine". This name is written identically to the related name
Zahrah, though it is pronounced differently.
Zuhura f Swahili, DhivehiMeans
"Venus (planet)" in Swahili and Dhivehi. Both are borrowed from Arabic
الزهرة (al-Zuharah), derived from the root
زهر (zahara) meaning "to shine".
Zula 2 f EnglishMeaning unknown. It has been in use since the 19th century. It is possibly related to the name of the African tribe that lives largely in South Africa, the Zulus. In the 19th century the Zulus were a powerful nation under their leader Shaka.
Zuleika f LiteratureMeaning 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.
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.
Zvonimir m CroatianDerived from the Slavic elements
zvonŭ "sound, chime" and
mirŭ "peace, world". Dmitar Zvonimir was an 11th-century Croatian king.
Zyanya f ZapotecPossibly means
"forever, always" in Zapotec. It appears in the novel
Aztec (1980) by the American author Gary Jennings.
Žydrūnas m LithuanianFrom Lithuanian
žydra meaning
"light blue" (using the patronymic suffix
ūnas).