Head to head · Girls' names
Paisley vs Zoey
#67 vs #69 in 2025 · both stepping back from its peak
Paisley is a whisker ahead (#67 vs #69 in 2025) and both are stepping back from its peak. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Paisley leads 3 measures of 6; Zoey leads 2.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1960s: Paisley #6117, Zoey #6042 — Zoey higher
- 1970s: Paisley #6806, Zoey #6487 — Zoey higher
- 1980s: Paisley #5366, Zoey #5810 — Paisley higher
- 1990s: Paisley #2166, Zoey #1168 — Zoey higher
- 2000s: Paisley #1169, Zoey #203 — Zoey higher
- 2010s: Paisley #91, Zoey #28 — Zoey higher
- 2020s: Paisley #56, Zoey #49 — Zoey higher
Zoey stood higher in 6 of 7 decades; Zoey has held the lead since the 1990s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Paisley | Zoey |
|---|---|---|
| 1960s | #6117 | #6042 |
| 1970s | #6806 | #6487 |
| 1980s | #5366 | #5810 |
| 1990s | #2166 | #1168 |
| 2000s | #1169 | #203 |
| 2010s | #91 | #28 |
| 2020s | #56 | #49 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Paisley
Not charting outside the US.
Zoey
- Canada#64
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Paisley
Most likely 'church' — from a Brittonic word drawn from Latin basilica
The place appears in twelfth-century records as Passeleth. The leading reading traces it to a Brittonic *passeleg, borrowed from Latin basilica, 'major church' — fitting for a settlement that grew around an abbey. A competing proposal reads it as Old English elements meaning something like 'pasture clearing'. Neither has fully won out, and as a given name Paisley carries the town and the fabric far more than any etymology.
Passeleth → Paisley (Renfrewshire place name) → Paisley (Scottish surname) → Paisley (given name)
How it traveled
The name is Scottish and geographical before it is anything else: a burgh west of Glasgow, home to a Cluniac priory founded in the 1160s that later became Paisley Abbey. From the place came a habitational surname, carried by families who left Scotland for North America and Ulster.
Zoey
Life
From the Greek noun ζωή (zōē), "life." In Genesis 3:20 the Greek translators of the Hebrew Bible used Ζωή to render Eve's name, which carries the sense of "living" in Hebrew — the two names are, in that sense, the same idea in two languages.
ζωή (zōē) → Ζωή / Zoe → Zoë → Zoey
How it traveled
The name begins as an ordinary Greek word and becomes a name among Greek-speaking communities of the eastern Mediterranean, including Hellenistic Jews who used it in place of Eve. It stayed in steady use in the Greek-speaking Christian world for centuries, borne by early martyrs and later by a Byzantine empress of the eleventh century, while western Europe largely left it alone until the nineteenth century brought a broad taste for Greek names.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Paisley
PAYZ-lee
Stress on the first syllable. The s is voiced, as in the fabric — PAYZ, not PAYSS — and this is settled in both American and Scottish usage.
- Pais — The most common informal clip, usually spelled Pais or Paise and pronounced PAYZ; strictly a household nickname, not used on its own.
- Paisy — An affectionate diminutive within families; also seen as Paizy. No standing as an independent given name.
- Lee — Drawn from the second syllable. Stands alone as a given name and surname in its own right, so it reads as a separate name rather than a short form.
Zoey
ZOH-ee
Stress on the first syllable, both syllables sounded. The spelling with -ey removes the ambiguity that makes some people read Zoe as a single syllable rhyming with "toe."
- Zo — The everyday clip, used at home and among friends; almost never written on anything official.
- Zozo — A reduplicated pet form typical of early childhood and family use.
- Zoey-girl — An affectionate family address rather than a true short form.
Who has carried each name
Paisley
No documented entry for Paisley yet.
Zoey
Zoey Deutch (b. 1994) — Set It Up and The Politician star
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Paisley if you want…
On the measures here, the records do not separate Paisley from Zoey.
Choose Zoey if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsZoey is stepping back from its peak
- a name that charts abroad tooZoey is on the national lists of Canada
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Paisley
Strengths
- The spelling is backed by a dictionary word and a real Scottish town, so most people can write it after hearing it once.
- Two syllables, first-syllable stress, no sounds that trouble English speakers of any age.
- A documented record stretching back to twelfth-century Scottish charters, unusually long for a name this new to American nurseries.
To consider
- The fabric association is immediate and permanent. Many people will picture a shawl or a necktie before they think of a person.
- Rival spellings — Paisleigh, Paislee, Paizley — are in circulation, so she may be asked which one she is even though hers is the standard form.
- The name's wave is very recent and still cresting downward, which means nearly every Paisley she meets will be roughly her own age.
Zoey
Strengths
- Fully phonetic in English — the -ey ending tells readers exactly where the second syllable goes, with no accent mark to lose in forms and databases.
- The meaning is short, transparent and needs no explanation: "life," straight from Greek.
- Travels well as Zoe, Zoé or Zoi across Greek, French, Italian, Spanish and Dutch, so relatives abroad will recognize it.
To consider
- Zoe, Zoey, Zoie and Zoë all coexist, so expect "is that with a Y?" for life. Choosing the spelling is choosing a small lifelong correction.
- The -ey spelling belongs almost entirely to the last few decades, so it reads as distinctly contemporary rather than heirloom — the plainer Zoe carries the older feel.
- It has come down a little from its highest point, which usually means fewer in a given classroom but a name that still sounds current to most ears.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Paisley and Zoey in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
- Distinctly American names
- America's top 100 names right now
- Generation Alpha names (born 2013 onward)
- Two-syllable names, the American default
- all guides
Every list here names both Paisley and Zoey — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Paisley or Zoey — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Paisley or Zoey?
- Paisley, in 2025: Paisley ranked #67 with 3,508 babies; Zoey ranked #69 with 3,427 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Paisley or Zoey?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Paisley moved down 18 places; Zoey moved down 37 places.
- Which is the older name, Paisley or Zoey?
- Paisley entered the US charts in 1966; Zoey entered the US charts in 1967. On the American record, Paisley is the older name.
- How many people are named Paisley and Zoey?
- About 65,000 people named Paisley are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 115,000 people named Zoey are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Paisleys or Zoeys in the classroom?
- Paisley will almost certainly be the only one in school. Zoey will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
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