Zoe

What Zoe means

Variant of Zoë, meaning “life”

variant of Zoë || From Ancient Greek ζωή (zōḗ, “life”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Zoe” (revision 92640784) and “Zoë” (revision 94545112), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Zoe?

US: Steady: #33 in 2015, #31 now. England & Wales: Falling: down from #89 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2012, when 6,466 girls got the name (#30 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 285 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 569 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 239 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in DC (15.35 per 1,000 girls), VT (12.32 per 1,000 girls), RI (10.6 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Zoe is #31 in the US and #104 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.8% of US babies named Zoe were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Zoey3,427 US · 97 E&W
• Xoey31 US
• Zoi25 US · 6 E&W
• Zoee25 US
• Xoe24 US
• Zoei21 US
• Zoa18 US
• Zoeh9 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Zoe

Girls

• Maya#62Editor’s note Steady in the US: #68 in 2015 and #62 in 2025. About 1 in 430 US girls in the 2025 records
• Sophie#55French form of Sophia, meaning “wisdom”^*
• Sophia#5“wisdom”^*
• Azariah#630“Yah Has Helped”^*
• Lexi#628Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #308 in 2015, #628 in 2025
• Lydia#92“the region of Lydia”^*

For a brother

• Pierce#505Form of Peter, meaning “stone, rock”^*
• Zander#396Diminutive of Alexander, meaning “to defend + man”^*
• Xander#259Diminutive of Alexander, meaning “to defend + man”^*
• Damian#109“to tame”^*
• Isaias#426Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #426 vs #3,256 in 2025
• Sebastian#16“august, venerable, exalted”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Greek, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Zoe’s. Rank is US 2025.