safe boy names and guilty pleasures

Chef Wolfgang Puck has helped soften this thunderous Germanic name; music-lovers will appreciate its association with Mozart, though the composer's middle name Amadeus is more appealing.

Western novelist Zane (born Pearl!) Grey made this name famous. Now, it's in tune with the style of our times, retaining that appealing cowboy image.

If you're looking for a name that's light and breezy, this could be it. A name from mythology: Zephyrus/Zephyr was the Greek god of the west wind-- with many European variations, it's a name that's frequently seen in computer and video games, is a character in the children's book Silverwing, and appears in the Babar books--as a monkey.

In a baby name landscape where word names and names that start with Z are infinitely cool, there are few options for parents who want to combine trends. Zeppelin is one of the best names at the intersection of these two styles, and it's rising alongside the likes of Zen, Zephyr, and Zenith.