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There are 2,972 Spanish words beginning with Z, and almost two thirds of them take an A next.
A takes sixty two percent, U twenty six and O eleven. E and I together account for under three percent of the page.
That gap is a spelling rule rather than an accident. Spanish writes the sound with C before E and I, so ZE and ZI shapes are replaced by CE and CI.
The rule bites when a word is pluralised or conjugated. LÁPIZ becomes LÁPICES rather than LAPIZES, and CRUZAR becomes CRUCÉ rather than CRUZÉ.
ZAPATO, ZORRO, ZANAHORIA and ZURDO are the entries most learners meet, and three of the four sit on the dominant A branch.
Z is pronounced as a TH across most of Spain and as an S throughout Latin America, the same split that affects soft C.
Spanish spelling uses C for that sound before E and I. The few ZE and ZI entries that exist are mostly borrowed words.
The plural ending puts an E after the Z, and the spelling rule then requires a C. The sound does not change, only the letter.
As the TH in think across most of Spain, and as an S in Latin America and the Canary Islands. Both are standard.
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