I've never heard the name Zidane used outside of the soccer world, and the closest after that has been "Zane" (not close at all).

Zidane:
1) (noun) Captain of the French National Football team during the World Cup 2006. Apparently has a sister involved in not-so-Catholic activities. We know nothing about his mother.

2) (verb) to zidane someone/something: Irrational act of head butting during a crucial moment and being caught in the act by a third-party.

3) (verb) to go zidane: Act of accusing people of saying "bad things" about you and your family and not having the balls of saying what those exact words are to the media, leaving millions of fans in limbo and frustrated.

Example:
Judge: Defendant how do you explain your actions?

Defendant: "Your honor, I was full of rage. He said bad things about my momma. The only thing I can think of was to zidane him in the nuts."

Judge: "What did he say exactly?"

Defendant: "Bad words. I can't repeat."

UB

i dont care zidane is cool ne ways! =p

Hmm, interesting thought. Maybe it was intended that his name stuck out like that since he isn't human. The other characters are relating to the planet in some way, but he is a genome...

I don't really think that Zidane's name refers to anything. The fact that he had a tail might have meant that he was a monkey...?

I have to agree that seems to be a pretty good reason!