ZhulongmChinese 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.
Ziba 2mBiblical Means "station" in Hebrew. This is the name of a servant of Saul in the Old Testament.
ZibiahfBiblical Means "female gazelle" in Hebrew, the feminine form of the word צְבִי (tsevi). In the Old Testament this is the name of the mother of King Joash of Judah.
ZiemowitmPolish 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.
ZigormBasque Means "rod, staff" or "punishment" in Basque.
Zihanf & mChinese From Chinese 子 (zǐ) meaning "child" or 梓 (zǐ) meaning "catalpa tree" combined with 涵 (hán) meaning "contain, include". Other character combinations are possible.
Zikomom & fChewa Means "thank you, greeting" in Chewa.
ZillahfBiblical Means "shade" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament she is the second wife of Lamech.
ZilpahfBiblical Means "frailty" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament this is the name of the handmaid who was given to Jacob by Leah.
ZimrimBiblical, Biblical Hebrew Probably means "my music" in Hebrew, a possessive form of זִמְרָה (zimra) meaning "music, song". 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 lover of the Midianite woman Cozbi.
ZinniafEnglish (Rare) From the name of the flower, which was itself named for the German botanist Johann Zinn.
ZipporahfBiblical, Hebrew From the Hebrew name צִפּוֹרָה (Tsippora), derived from צִפּוֹר (tsippor) meaning "bird". In the Old Testament this is the name of the Midianite wife of Moses. She was the daughter of the priest Jethro.
Zivm & fHebrew Means "bright, radiant" in Hebrew. This was the ancient name of the second month of the Jewish calendar.
ŽivafSlavic Mythology, Slovene, Serbian From 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.
ZiyamArabic, Turkish Means "splendour, light, glow" in Arabic. This was the name of a 14th-century Islamic Indian historian.
Ziya ad-DinmArabic Means "splendour of religion" from Arabic ضياء (ḍiyāʾ) meaning "splendour, light, glow" combined with دين (dīn) meaning "religion, faith".
ZiyadmArabic Means "growth, increase, excess" in Arabic, a derivative of زاد (zāda) meaning "to grow, to increase".
Ziya ur-RahmanmArabic Means "splendour of the merciful" from Arabic ضياء (ḍiyāʾ) meaning "splendour, light, glow" combined with رحْمن (raḥman) meaning "merciful".
ZoefEnglish, Italian, Spanish, German, Czech, Ancient Greek Means "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]
Zoharm & fHebrew Means "light, brilliance" in Hebrew.
ZohrehfPersian Means "Venus (planet)" in Persian, borrowed from Arabic الزهرة (al-Zuhara), derived from the root زهر (zahara) meaning "to shine".
ZoilusmAncient 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 1fEnglish Meaning 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 2f & mXhosa From the Xhosa root -zola meaning "calm".
ZoltánmHungarian, Slovak Possibly related to the Turkish title sultan meaning "king, sultan". This was the name of a 10th-century ruler of Hungary, also known as Zsolt.
ZonafVarious Means "girdle, belt" in Greek. This name was made popular by the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and poet Zona Gale (1874-1938).
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.
ZorromLiterature, 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.
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.
ZsombormHungarian Possibly of Turkic origin meaning "bison, wisent".
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.
ZubairmArabic, Urdu Derived from Arabic زبر (zubar) meaning "pieces of iron". Zubair ibn al-Awwam was a cousin of the Prophet Muhammad and an early Muslim military commander.
ZuhairmArabic Means "small flower" in Arabic, from the root زهر (zahara) meaning "to shine, to blossom".
Zuhra 2fArabic (Rare) Means "brilliancy, light" in Arabic, derived from the root زهر (zahara) meaning "to shine". This name is written identically to the related name Zahra, though it is pronounced differently.
ZuhurafSwahili, Dhivehi Means "Venus (planet)" in Swahili and Dhivehi. Both are borrowed from Arabic الزهرة (al-Zuhara), derived from the root زهر (zahara) meaning "to shine".
Zula 2fEnglish Meaning 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.
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.
ZurielmBiblical Means "my rock is God" in Hebrew, derived from צוּר (tsur) meaning "rock" and אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God". In the Old Testament this name is borne by a chief of the Merarite Levites at the time of the Exodus.
ZuriñefBasque Derived from Basque zuri"white". This is a Basque equivalent of Blanca.