Names starting with Z could be zooming up the charts this year — they’re certainly hot with Nameberry readers!

　　Writing that makes me wonder if it’s because many of us have been saying “Zoom” a lot more than we used to, so the Z sound is on our minds.

　　Whether that’s the case or not, a lot of Z names have grown popular in recent years. When it comes to Z names for girls, Zoey is a Top 20 name when all the spellings are combined, and Zara is climbing steadily through the Top 300. Trending Z names for boys include cool nickname Zeke and pop prince Zayn.

　　But this is all from last year’s name data. How do we know what parents are interested in right now?

　　We analyzed pageviews for the names in our database over the last month, to see which names increased the most compared to the same time last year. In other words, the names our readers are more interested in now than they were a year ago.

　　A significant chunk of them begin with Z — more than you’d expect for a relatively uncommon initial. Of these, most are short with prominent vowels, especially for girls. Many are a twist on other names that are fashionable now: Ella, Bella and Stella lead to Zella, while Leon and Ryan are a short step away from Zion.

　　In order of the biggest increase in views, here are our 15 hottest Z names this year.

　　A couple of notes on the figures. On average, the traffic on our name pages grew by 17% in the last year. Zuko, the top name on this list, grew 15 times more than that, so it’s rising much faster than most names on the site. Also, in our database name pages are either boy or girl, even if the name is unisex.

Boy names that start with Z

　　264% more views in 2020

　　We can thank Avatar: The Last Airbender for the surge of interest in this name — Fire Lord Zuko is a major character in the TV series. So far that hasn’t translated to a huge amount of use for babies, but we could see it taking off.

　　Zuriel

　　145% more views in 2020

　　Hebrew names ending in -el are one of the hot trends of the year. The meaning “God is my rock” gives it extra appeal.

　　Zev

　　94% more views in 2020

　　A punchy syllable, a high Scrabble score, and the meaning “wolf”: Zev packs a lot of good things into three letters.

　　Zaccai

　　89% more views in 2020

　　An Old Testament name that deserves a lot more attention. Zaccai blends the best of Zack and Kai, and was only given to 23 boys in the US in 2019.

　　Zachariah

　　64% more views in 2020

　　The longest name on this list, biblical Zachariah continues to interest parents looking for a sweet-spot name that’s stylish, familiar, but not super popular.

　　Zion

　　63% more views in 2020

　　No surprise that this spiritual name is popular. Zion is falling a little as a girl name, but for boys it continued to rise in 2019, and looks to be headed towards the Top 100.

　　Zeno

　　46% more views in 2020

　　Zeno ticks several trend boxes: it’s an O-ending name that’s every bit as cool as Enzo and Theo, and it’s related to Zeus so it counts as one of the mythological names.

Girl names that start with Z

　　219% more views in 2020

　　As internationally appealing as Mira and Kira… but with a Z!

　　Zariyah and Zaria

　　95% and 69% more views in 2020

　　Arabic flower name Zaria got its initial boost from the 1990s sitcom The Parent ‘Hood. The similar sound to popular Aria is what’s keeping it — and alternative spellings like Zariyah — in style today.

　　Zuri

　　59% more views in 2020

　　One of the most popular Swahili names in the US charts, Zuri — which means beautiful — is now in the Top 300.

　　Zella

　　58% more views in 2020

　　A fun member of the “Ella” name group, the recent boost in interest is probably from singer Zella Day, who released a new record this summer. Her parents got her name from a book in a museum.

　　Zora

　　58% more views in 2020

　　This Slavic name that means dawn is red-hot. It entered the Top 1000 in 2018, and shot up nearly 200 places in 2019.

　　Zada

　　46% more views in 2020

　　A rare (in the States) Arabic name with a lucky meaning. The visual similarity to Ada may have helped to spark interest.

　　Zola

　　41% more views in 2020

　　Not just a zippy twist on Lola, but also a literary surname and a Grey’s Anatomy character. Zola entered the Top 1000 in 2018.

　　So will we see a big rise in baby names starting with Z in 2020? Or are they just popular on Nameberry because name enthusiasts love reading about unusual sounds? We look forward to finding out.

About the Author

Clare Green

　　Clare Green has been writing for Nameberry since 2015, covering everything from names peaking right now to feminist baby names, and keeping up-to-date with international baby name rankings. Her work has featured in publications such as The Independent and HuffPost. Clare has a background in linguistics and librarianship, and recently completed an MA dissertation researching names in multilingual families. She lives in England with her husband and son. You can reach her at [email protected]

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