Z names

There aren’t many names that begin with the last letter of the alphabet...such as XY or Z - so I thought I’d write about a few of them.   Generally they haven’t been that popular.  However one name, the Hebrew derived Zachary, has become very popular in the last years, particularly in the USA. The US has tended to use bible names more than the UK and Zachary or Zechariah is the name of the father of John the Baptist.    The name means remembered by God. It is often abbreviated as Zak.  There are other bible names but they are long and usually obsolete.

Another name which has become quite popular in recent years is Zoe.  It is a Greek name, meaning “life” which appeared in Greek translations of the bible.   It was used by early Christians because they hoped for eternal life... but it was not at first popular in English speaking countries.  Now, it is used much more frequently…
There is the name Zena, which is a re spelling of Xena, which means foreign.

Zara is the name of Princess Anne’s daughter, and was at the time a very unusual name for a royal baby.  The meaning is unclear.  It may be a re spelling of Sara, or possibly derived form the Arabic “Flower.”

Another American male name is Zane.  It is the transferred use of a surname, and was first used by the writer of “cowboy novels”, Zane Grey, who was descended from Ebenezer Grey, who founded the town Zanesville.

Zita is another royal name, the name of the last Empress of Austria.  The name comes from the patron saint of maids and servants, who lived in Tuscany in the 13^th century.

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