Zelie: Baby Name of the Day

The baby name Zelie looks like a fanciful invention, but it actually boasts centuries of history.

Thanks to Christina for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day.

WHAT DOES THE NAME ZELIE MEAN?

You may have heard that Zelie comes from the French word for azalea, the flower.

That’s not exactly right. Azalée is the French translation for azalea. 

But Azelie is a French feminine name, and it is associated with the Greek word azaleos – dry. 

The flowering shrub does best in sandy soil, so it comes from the same word.

It’s a little bit of a tangle.

GREEK MYTHOLOGY

Let’s go even farther back. 

In Greek mythology, Zelos or Zelus was the son of Styx and Pallas. Zelos personified zeal, just as his siblings exemplified other qualities. (Nike for victory, Kratos for strength, and Bia for force.)

Our word zeal – a sort of enthusiasm or passion for something – comes from Zelos’ name. 

So that’s a second possible origin for the baby name Zelie.

FRENCH INVENTION

It’s possible that both explanations are wrong.

19th century popular culture boosted the name. 

Between 1829 and 1848, Honore de Balzac wrote La Comédie humaine, a multi-volume collection of linked stories set in France. One of his characters? Zélie Levrault, the jealous wife of the postmaster.

A sprightly piece of music called La belle Zélie was popular in the 1870s. 

The French artist Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres painted a portait back in 1806 of an unknown subject. Some suggested it was a woman known as Madame Aymon, but that’s uncertain. The portrait was exhibited in Paris in 1867 and aquired by a museum in Rouen a few years later. Thanks to the popular song, it was nicknamed La Belle Zélie.

Zelie was having a moment.

ADELAIDE AND SOLENE

Worth noting: another French nickname beginning with the letter Z is Zazie, connected to classic Isabelle and Frances.

Zelie is also sometimes considered a form of Solene, a traditional French name from the Latin word sollemnis, meaning religious.

The ninth century saint Solange or Solene is sometimes called Zelie. Solene is generally considered a form of the Latin Sollemnia – religious. The original saint was a shepherdess killed by her master. Sollemnia became Solene and sometimes Zéline, which explains the evolution of Zelie.

It might also come from Azalaïs, an Occitan name ultimately derived from the Germanic Adalheidis. (Occitan is a romance language spoken in southern France.) In that case, Zelie means noble, and is a cousin to Adelaide and so many related names. 

Given the many possible origins and meanings ascribed to Zelie, it’s possible that this was a familiar nickname with several origins and meanings attached, changing over time.

SAINT ZELIE

Catholic faith might get the last word on Zelie’s origin and meaning.

That’s because of Azélie-Marie Guerin.

Born in 1831 in a tiny French village, she considered religious life, but ultimately married. She and her husband, Louis Martin, raised a family, including the future Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. 

Therese is one of the most well-known and widely admired saints of the modern era. Her writings were published posthumously as Story of a Soul.

Both Monsieur and Madame Martin were canonized in October 2015, meaning that the Catholic Church has a widely-known Saint Zelie.

EVEN MORE WOMEN NAMED ZELIE

Keep looking and it’s clear that Zelie was familiar across Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries.

There’s the daughter of Baron Dettmar Basse, a German immigrant to the US who purchased land in western Pennsylvania. He named a tiny town Zelienople in honor of his daughter, Zelie, around 1802.

What was Zelie short for?

Fredericka.

Apparently she took her nickname from a favorite doll.

There’s also:

• A 1728 French opera, Tarsis et Zelie. It was based on an earlier story, set in ancient Thessaly. The story line is a little fuzzy here, but it goes like this: Tarsis was a priest who fell in love with Zelie. Zelie became a priestess since she couldn’t be with Tarsis. Tarsis didn’t know that his beloved had taken vows, and so decided to end his life by offering himself as a sacrifice. The priestess charged with carrying out his ritual death? Zelie.
• Charlotte Bronte’s 1853 novel Villette includes a character named Zelie St. Pierre.
• Opera singer Zelie de Lussan was born in the US of French descent in 1861.
• French astronomers Paul and Prosper Henry discovered an asteroid in 1876 and named it Zelie, though it’s often called Zelia. That opens the door to yet another possible formal name. Could Zelie and Zelia be related to Celia?
• In the 1885 opera comique La fauvette du temple, Zelie was a role for a soprano.
• 1925 British silent film The Rat was set in the Parisian underworld, with a character by the name. Zelie also appeared in two sequels.

The name was popular at the turn of the twentieth century and is reasonably well known in France today.

ZELLIE, ZAYLEE, AND MORE VARIATIONS

Besides the possible formal names for Zelie, a handful of spelling variations are seen, including:

• Zaylee, which might be a phonetic take on Zelie, or it could be Zay-lee, a creative name in the key of Kaylee.
• The name Zellie might rhyme with Ellie and Shelly, or it could be a logical nickname from the same roots as the single-L spelling. 

Of course, that raises the question of pronunciation.

It might vary with spelling. Zaylee rhymes with Kaylee, but Zellie is more like zeh-lee, closer to Kelly. Zelie’s first E can be long, like Keely, or sound like Zaylee or Zellie. 

The name is relatively rare, which adds to the confusion.

HOW POPULAR IS THE NAME ZELIE?

The baby name Zelie has never ranked in the US Top 1000.

But it has gained in popularity thanks to the new saint. 

• As of 2023, 115 girls were named Zelie.
• An additional ten girls were named Zellie.
• Another 38 girls were named Zaylie. 

ZAYLEE IN THE TOP 1000

Wait, how about Zaylee?

It turns out that the popularity of Zelie is far surpassed by Zaylee. As of 2023, the baby name Zaylee ranks #831 in the US. That represents 329 births – nearly triple Zelie.

And that’s the surprising part. Zaylee skyrocketed into the US Top 1000 in the year 2015 – the same year that Madame Martin was canonized. 

If that sounds crazy, consider that Pope Francis canonized the couple on his 2015 visit to North America. Chances are that many expectant parents – Catholic or not – heard the name. 

Still, this spelling is falling in use. Possibly it’s because any story about a new saint is always short-lived. But it’s equally true that Kaylee, Hailey, and related names are generally falling in use.

VINTAGE AND MODERN

And yet Zelie fits nicely with so many Z names for girls: Zoe and Zoey, Zara, Zariah, Zuri, Zella, Zadie, and Zora. 

It’s a sparky sound, equal parts vintage and modern. Zelie is saintly and tied the natural world. The name is both literary and in step with 21st century trends.

If you’re after a rare choice with a story to tell, Zelie might be the perfect name.

What do you think of the baby name Zelie? 

First published on April 15, 2015, this post was revised and updated on March 13, 2025.