Female Amusements

This name, whose sweet and fragrant floral essence has always been widespread across the Near Eastern world, has now landed on US popularity lists in a variety of spellings. It's been dropping precipitously over the past few years, though, perhaps due to a combination of tensions in the Middle East and the fading fashion status of Jasmine itself.

Could be some disconnect between spelling and pronunciation.

This is an African name that would fit into any culture.

Zephyrus was the Greek god of the west wind, and all names associated with him have a pleasantly gentle, breezy feel.

A rarely heard Hebrew name whose zippy first initial Z transforms it from dated Yetta-like image to more lively Catherine Zeta Jones-like appeal.

Zinnia is an unusual floral choice with a bit more edge and energy than most and beginning to find its way onto namers' wish lists of botanical possibilities. Named after an eighteenth German botanist called Johann Gottfried Zinn, it appears in Roald Dahl's Matilda as the young protagonist's mother.

Now that Zoe is getting wildly popular in the U.S. and the U.K. -- one poll puts it at number one in Wales -- parents may start hunting down fresh twists like this.