Anyone who watched the 2013 movie World War Z might erroneously believe that Z Day has something to do with the zombie apocalypse, but it’s actually a holiday that corrects a wrong perpetuated by systems and organizations that use alphabetical sorting.

For years, people whose last names start with a “Z” were the last to be chosen in any alphabetical system, and this day corrects that problem.

On this day, people with last names starting with a “Z” get the chance to go first, ahead of anyone else. At least in theory. These individuals are automatically moved to the front of the line, even if it’s only for one day of the year.

The History Of Z Day

It is with a sad heart that we have to admit we’re unsure of who invented Z-Day or when it was invented. This is just one of those holidays that seems to have been spontaneously born on the Internet. It started off small but has now grown so large that it’s impossible to determine who or where it started.

Some Fun Facts About The Letter Z

Below are some fun facts about the letter “Z” that people may (or may not) want to know. So without further ado, let’s take a moment to sort through the factoids below before we move on to how Z Day is observed.

• In most English-speaking countries, the name of the letter “Z” is Zed.
• The letter Z is the rarest letter in the English language.
• The letter Z was once briefly removed from the English alphabet.

Observing Z Day

Z-Day can be observed by taking the time to let people with last names that start with the letter “Z” go first in lines, or even better, take them out to lunch. This is also a good day to watch a zombie movie and to spread the word about this holiday using the hashtag #ZDAY on social media.