Zoe
Feminine · Greek roots · “Life”
Zoe is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 163,256 girls against 597 boys since 1880. See Zoe as a boy name
Zoe is the Greek word for life, written on gravestones and in gospels long before it was written on a birth certificate. It carried a Byzantine empress who ruled in her own right in the eleventh century, and it survived intact into English with its spelling and sound almost untouched. Two syllables, open at both ends, and it lands the same way in almost every language that has borrowed it.
How old is the name Zoe?
Zoe was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Zoe alive today was born around 2010, making them about 15 years old. About 159,000 people named Zoe are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Zoe most popular?
Zoe peaked in 2024, reaching #29 nationally. Today it ranks #31, 2 places below that high. See the whole 2024 chart.
Where it comes from
From Zōē (Greek) to Zoe
The story of Zoe
The name is simply the Greek noun for life. When Jewish scholars in Alexandria translated the Hebrew Bible into Greek in the last centuries BC, they rendered Eve's name — Chavah, connected to living — as Zoe, which gave the word a scriptural life of its own. It was borne by early Christian martyrs, then by Byzantine women of the imperial court, including an empress who reigned in the eleventh century. English-speaking families took it up in the nineteenth century, and Russian speakers have long used the parallel form Zoya.
Meaning
Life
From Greek ζωή (zōē), "life" — the ordinary word, not a poetic coinage.
Cultural footprint
Zoë Saldaña (b. 1978) — Star of Avatar and Guardians of the Galaxy — the biggest box-office franchises ever
Zoe Porphyrogenita (b. 978) — Byzantine empress who ruled in her own right
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
How the name formed
- ZōēGreek
- Zoë
- Zoe
Related forms: Ζωή (Zoi) · Zoé · Zoya · Zoé · Zoe · Zoe
Pronouncing Zoe
ZOH-ee
Two syllables, stress on the first. The older spelling Zoë used the two dots precisely to stop readers saying it as one syllable, "Zoh"; American usage has mostly dropped them, so an occasional first-time misreading comes with the plain spelling.
Nicknames for Zoe
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 20106,274 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #29reached in 2024
- Change vs 2022
- +12.4%5,646 in 2025, from 5,022
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Zoe in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Ζωή (Zoi) in Greek — same name
- Zoé in French — spelling variant
- Zoya in Russian — related form
- Zoé in Hungarian — spelling variant
- Zoe in Italian — same name
- Zoe in Spanish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York. International figures from Statistics Canada, National Records of Scotland, Office for National Statistics. Sources
Zoes among us
people named Zoe are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 285 born in 2025 was named Zoe
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Michele test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Zoe's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Michele climbed just as high around 1968, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Michele's path sketches the road Zoe is walking now.
Zoe is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Zoe is headed
Zoe should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Zoe beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Zoe in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Short, phonetic and already complete — no nickname is required for everyday use.
- Recognized across French, Spanish, Italian, Greek and Hungarian with at most an accent changing.
- A documented record stretching from ancient Greek inscriptions through the Byzantine court to the present day.
- Charts in Canada, Scotland, and England and Wales as well as the US, so it travels without explanation.
- Distinct from most other girls' names in sound, with a rare initial Z.
- Zoe, Zoey, Zoë and Zoie all circulate, so expect to be asked which one — and expect the others to turn up on forms and gift tags.
- Without the two dots, some readers will try "Zoh" the first time, especially in print.
- It has been climbing steadily rather than fading, so it is likely to be more familiar in a classroom of the coming years than in one of the recent past.
- Very short first names can run together with very short surnames; worth saying the full combination aloud a few times.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Zoe
Feminine · Greek roots · #31 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Zoes are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 159,000 people named Zoe are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Zoe in 2025?
- Zoe ranks #31 among US girl names in 2025, with 5,646 babies given the name.
- How common is the name Zoe?
- About 1 in every 285 US girls born in 2025 was named Zoe — 5,646 in all.
- Will my child share the name Zoe with classmates?
- Zoe will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Zoe
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Scarlett#32 · Lainey#30 · Gianna#33 · Ella#29 · Emily#34 · Isla#28 · Valentina#35 · Luna#27
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Zoe? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Zoe and another name?
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Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration; international figures from national statistics agencies. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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