Singer and actor Zendaya has opened up in the past about the interesting meaning behind her first name. When she was interviewed by Popstar! Magazine in 2011 at an event as a young Disney Channel star, Zendaya revealed where her first name came from.
“My name means ‘to give thanks’ in Shona, and it was actually kind of half made up and half real,” Zendaya said. Shona is a language from people of southern Africa, according to Live Science, which reflects Zendaya’s African roots. She discussed her African and German background with her parents for the nonprofit Welcome US during Immigrant Heritage Month in 2015, The Hollywood Reporter wrote.
Zendaya further explained in the 2011 interview that the original plan was to use a J name for her first name before her father had the idea to add the letter Z to the start of her name instead. “It started off [as] Jendaya, or something like that, and my dad has a thing for Z’s and zen, very nice and calm, and so … he helped name me Zendaya,” she explained. “So it was a collection of both of my parents and their creative ideas.”
