Approximately 40 species of zeolites are known to occur naturally. The most common of these are analcime, chabazite, clinoptilolite, natrolite, phillipsite and stilbite. Other zeolite minerals include apophyllite, epistilbite, gmelinite, gyrolite, heulandite, mordenite, mesolite, okenite, phacolite, scolecite, stellarite and thompsonite.

The term zeolite was originally coined in 1756 by Swedish mineralogist Axel Fredrik Cronstedt, who observed that rapidly heating a material, believed to have been stilbite, produced large amounts of steam from water that had been adsorbed by the material. Based on this, he called the material zeolite, from the Greek ζέω (zéō), meaning "to boil" and λίθος (líthos), meaning “stone".

Approximately 40 species of zeolites are know to occur naturally. The most common of these are analcime, chabazite, clinoptilolite, natrolite, phillipsite and stilbite

Other zeolite minerals include apophyllite, epistilbite, gmelinite, gyrolite, heulandite, mordenite, mesolite, okenite, phacolite, scolecite, stellarite and thompsonite.