This is a list of names in which the categories include uncertain etymology.
XiadanifZapotec Meaning uncertain, said to mean "the flower that arrived" in Zapotec.
XimenomMedieval Spanish Medieval Spanish or Basque name of uncertain meaning. It is possibly a form of Simon 1, though it may in fact derive from Basque seme meaning "son".
YadirafSpanish (Latin American), American (Hispanic) Meaning unknown, possibly derived from an Arabic name. It has been used in Mexico since at least the 1940s, perhaps inspired by the Colombian actress Yadira Jiménez (1928-?), who performed in Mexican films beginning in 1946.
YahwehmTheology A name of the Hebrew God, represented in Hebrew by the Tetragrammaton ("four letters") יהוה (Yod Heh Vav Heh), which was transliterated into Roman script as Y H W H. Because it was considered blasphemous to utter the name of God, it was only written and never spoken, which resulted in the original pronunciation becoming lost. The name may have originally been derived from the Hebrew root הָוָה (hawa) meaning "to be, to exist, to become".
YamatomJapanese From Yamato, an ancient name for Japan. It can also refer to the Yamato period in Japanese history, which lasted into the 8th century. The individual kanji are 大 meaning "great" and 和 meaning "harmony".
YngvimNorse Mythology Possibly an Old Norse cognate of Ing. This was an alternate name of the god Freyr, who as Yngvi-Freyr was regarded as the ancestor of the Swedish royal family.
YseutfArthurian Cycle Old French form of Iseult, appearing in the 12th-century Norman French poem Tristan by Béroul.
YvainmArthurian Cycle Form of Owain used by the 12th-century French poet Chrétien de Troyes for his Arthurian romance Yvain, the Knight of the Lion.
Zane 1mEnglish From 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.
ZarathustramHistory From 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).
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.
ZellafEnglish Meaning unknown, possibly an invented name. It arose in the 19th century.
ZelophehadmBiblical Possibly 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.
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.
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).
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.
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.