Name of the Week: Zain

 

Origin:

Zain/Zane is a multicultural name which derives from several sources: Zain (or Zayn, Zein, Zeyn) are transcript forms of the Arabic زَيْن -- a noun meaning "beauty, adornment, grace, excellence" and adjective meaning "beautiful, comely, handsome, graceful, charming, lovely, fair, radiant, good-looking, fine." It is most commonly masculine in use, but is generally considered a unisex name, and can be used for girls. Zane is an English surname which comes from the West Country. It is descended from the Old English personal name Saewine, made up of the elements sǣ "sea" and wine "friend." Zane (or Zani/Ziani) is Venetian form of Gianni, itself a pet form of Giovanni, the Italian cognate of John. According to Brian M. Scott and Joshua Mittleman's article Fourteenth Century Venetian Personal Names: "One variation typical of Venetian names is the substitution of initial Z for a soft G or Gi: Zusto for Giusto, Zanino from Gianino."

Usage:

Saewine does not seem to have been an especially common Anglo-Saxon name, though there are references to a moneyer by the name of Saewine in Shaftsbury under the reign of Æthelred II (c. 968–1016). Saintbury in Gloucestershire was originally Saewineburg "Saewine's fort." From this came the surname Sainsbury.  Data from The Surname Atlas As a surname, Zane developed specifically in the West Country -- Devon, Cornwall and Dorset. Data from the 1881 census (right) shows that, though it was rare in use, even by the late 19th century, all of the surname's use was in southern England and the majority of that was in Devon.  The Arabic Zain was not in use in pre-Islamic Arabia, and was not used itself by a Quranic figure. However, it is Muslim tradition to bestow names with 'good' meaning on children, and Zain fits this criteria.  As for the Venetian Zane, by the 14th century Zane was used as a patronymic surname. Matteo Zane (d.1605), for example, was the Patriarch of Venice from 1600 to 1605. I can find no record of Zane specifically being used as a given name officially, but it was likely used as a vernacular Venetian form, even if Gianni was used in records, much like Jack was used for John in Britain. Other forms of Giovanni, such as Zanetto and Zanetta, were certainly in use. These latter two were used in Britain from the 19th century also.  Zane was not common as a given name in Britain.The first record from 1830 to 1980 is one in Cirencester in 1840. After that Zane was not used as a first name until 1925.   Zane Zain(e)/Zayn 1920s: 1930s: 1940s: 1950s: 1960s: 1970s: 2 births 3 births 3 births 29 births 69 births 105 births 0 births 0 births 1 birth 9 births 15 births 21 births The small surge of the name's use in the 1950s may be attributed to the popularity of American Westerns, often inspired by the work of American author Zane Grey (1872–1939). There seems to have been some uncertainty about his gender though (perhaps because his full name was Pearl Zane Grey) which may have been why parents were reticent to use it.  click to enlarge In 1996, Zain ranked #241 with 123 births in England and Wales. Since then it has been gradually rising, peaking at #137 (459 births) in 2011.  Originally, Zane and Zayn both averaged between 20 and 50 births per year. Zane began to rise after 2004, peaking at #233 (208 births) in 2011 making it the more common spelling of the two. That was, of course until the great success of boyband One Direction featuring member Zayn Malik (born Zain). It began rapidly rising after 2010 and is still on an upward curve.  Zain is the only spelling to have ranked in the official data for girls, ranking just once at #4798 (3 births) in 2005. In 2014, Zain ranked #176 (316 births), Zayn ranked #239 (231 births), Zane ranked #341 (132 births), Zayne ranked #680 (49 births) and Zaine ranked #866 (34 births).  With all the different spellings combined, Zain and co. rank at #97 in the 2014 Combined Spellings rankings.

Famous Bearers:

History: * Zane Grey (1872–1939), American author. Contemporary: * Zane Radcliffe (b. 1969), British writer. * Zane Lowe (b. 1973), New Zealand radio presenter * Zane Lamprey (b. 1976), American comedian and actor. * Zane Beadles (b. 1986), American football player * Zain "Zayn" Malik (b. 1993), a British singer. * Zane Huett (b. 1997), American actor.

Variants:

Zain, Zane, Zayn, Zein, Zaine, Zayne, Zeyn

Pronunciation:

ZAYN [key]

Possible longer forms:

Zanetto, Constanzo, Florenzo, Fiorenzo, Lorenzo, Vincenzo, Zebulon, Zenone, Zolestin

Sibling Names:

Saffron     Layla     Aisha     Lyra     Calla     Amaya  River     Gulliver     Qais     Wyatt     Roscoe     Iskandar

Name Lists:

Lively Lads  Arabic Names

 

 

If you like Zain you may also like:    Rio, Greyson, Archer, Blaise, Fletcher, Blake, Rex, Quinn, Layton, Flynn

 

Thanks to Louise for requesting this post.