Browse Names (page 20) - Behind the Name

Zelpha f Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek
Form of Zilpah used in the Greek and Latin Old Testament.

Zeno m Ancient Greek (Latinized), Italian
From 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 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.

Zephania m Southern African, Eastern African
Variant of Zephaniah. This form of the name appears to be used in Southern and Eastern Africa.

Zephaniah m Biblical
From 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.

Zephaniel m Judeo-Christian-Islamic Legend
From Hebrew צָפַן (tzafan) meaning "to hide" and אֵל ('el) meaning "God". This is the name of an angel in medieval Jewish mysticism.

Zerah m Biblical
Means "dawning, shining" in Hebrew. This is the name of a son of Judah and the twin of Perez in the Old Testament.

Zeruiah f Biblical
From Hebrew צֳרִי (tzori) meaning "balm, salve". In the Old Testament this name belongs to the sister of King David and the mother of Abishai, Joab and Asahel.

Zeus m Greek 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]

Zhandos m Kazakh
From Kazakh жан (zhan) meaning "soul" and дос (dos) meaning "friend" (both of Persian origin).

Zhanna f Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian
Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian form of Jeanne.

Zhansaya f Kazakh
From Kazakh жан (zhan) meaning "soul" and сая (saya) meaning "shadow, shade, protection, comfort" (both of Persian origin).

Zhulong m Chinese Mythology
From 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.

Ziemowit m Polish
From 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.

Zifa f Tatar, Bashkir
Tatar and Bashkir form of Ziba 1.

Zilpa f Biblical Spanish, Biblical French, Biblical Italian, Biblical Dutch
Spanish, French, Italian and Dutch form of Zilpah.

Zinaida f Russian, Belarusian, Ukrainian
Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian form of Zenaida.

Zinoviy m Russian, Ukrainian
Russian and Ukrainian form of the Greek name Ζηνόβιος (Zenobios), the masculine form of Zenobia.

Zinoviya f Russian (Rare), Ukrainian (Rare)
Russian and Ukrainian form of Zenobia.

Zion m Jewish, Biblical
From 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.

Zoé f French, Hungarian
French and Hungarian form of Zoe.

Zoë f Dutch, English
Dutch form and English variant of Zoe.

Zofija f Lithuanian, Slovene
Lithuanian and Slovene form of Sophia.

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.

Zona f Various
Means "girdle, belt" in Greek. This name was made popular by the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and poet Zona Gale (1874-1938).

Zopyros m Ancient 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.

Zora f Croatian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Slovene, Czech, Slovak
Means "dawn, aurora" in the South Slavic languages, as well as Czech and Slovak.

Zoraida f Spanish
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.

Zorica f Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian
Serbian, Croatian and Macedonian diminutive of Zora.

Zorro m Literature, Popular Culture
Means "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.

Zosimus m Ancient 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.

Zoya f Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Bulgarian
Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian and Bulgarian form of Zoe.

Zubair m Arabic, Urdu
Derived from Arabic زبر (zubar) meaning "iron". Zubair ibn al-Awwam was a cousin of the Prophet Muhammad and an early Muslim military commander.

Zuhura f Swahili, Dhivehi
Means "Venus (planet)" in Swahili and Dhivehi. Both are borrowed from Arabic الزهرة (al-Zuharah), derived from the root زهر (zahara) meaning "to shine".

Zuleika f Literature
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.

Zulfiqar m Arabic, Urdu
From 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.

Zuza f Slovak, Polish
Slovak and Polish diminutive of Susanna.

Zuzana f Czech, Slovak, Lithuanian
Czech, Slovak and Lithuanian form of Susanna.

Zuzanna f Polish, Latvian (Rare)
Polish and Latvian form of Susanna.

Zvezdana f Serbian, Slovene
Serbian and Slovene form of Zvjezdana.

Zvonimir m Croatian
Derived from the Slavic elements zvonŭ "sound, chime" and mirŭ "peace, world". Dmitar Zvonimir was an 11th-century Croatian king.

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