Zelie

Meaning of Zelie

Zélie is a petite French gem that slips off the tongue as zeh-LEE or ZEL-ee, depending on whether you’re savoring café au lait or iced coffee. Originally a sweet nickname for Azélie, it leans on the Latin idea of “zeal,” and it bloomed in fame thanks to St. Zélie Martin, the devoted mamá of St. Thérèse of Lisieux and a modern-day icon of love and grit. Think of a flamenco dancer in a flower-lined chapel—short, spirited, impossible to overlook. American parents caught that rhythm after the saint’s 2015 canonization, and the name has been fluttering higher on the charts ever since. With its mix of faith, fire, and flower-petal grace, Zélie gives a daughter a passport to both tenderness and courage. In other words, a tiny name built for grand stories.