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The girls' name Zoe (ZOH-ee) has a wonderful and ancient history. It is a Greek word meaning "life," and often used in the context of "life-giving" or "eternal life." The Greek form of the word was used 134 in the Biblical New Testament to indicate eternal life. (1.) There are several historical figures named Zoe. There were two Byzantine Empresses bearing the name; the first was Zoe Karbonopsina who died c. 920, and the other was the daughter of Constantine VIII and Helena who lived c. 978-1050. (2.) There are also two early Catholic saints named Zoe, one martyred by Emperor Hadrian (ruled Rome c. 117-138) and the other martyred under the rule of Diocletian (ruled Rome c. 284-305).

Other notables named Zoe include: a tribe in the Brazilian Amazon, the 4-wheeled robot that was used to map life in the Atacama Desert, Zoe Palaiologina (c. 1455-1503), wife of Russia's Tsar Ivan III, Zoe Jenne (born 1974), author of The Pollen Room, Zoe (Pollock) a British pop singer and songwriter famous for her hit song, "Sunshine on a Rainy Day," and a Mexican Rock en Espanol band. (2.) Though Zoe is a girl's name, J.D Salinger's novel, Frannie and Zooey featured a male character named Zachary who went by the nickname, Zooey.

Zooey is a variant spelling of the name, Zoe. There are many variant spellings for this name: Zoi, Zoey, Zoeie, Zowie, Zoja, and Zoee. Other variant forms of the name are: Zoelie, Zoeline, Zoelle, Zoey, Zoie, and Zoya. (3.)

The name has been tracked by the US government since the 1880's. It was not a very common name in the United States until the 1990's when there was an enormous surge in its popularity. In the 80's, approximately 100 per million babies born in the US were named Zoe, and one decade later this number jumped to approximately 800 per million, and it continued to climb to an astounding 2,384 per million babies named Zoe in the 2000's. (4.) Since 1880, 45,579 girls born in the United States were named Zoe! It is also a popular name in Europe, with strong standings in the top 100 girl names from 1998 to 2006. It is also very common in Australia, where it was in the top 20 baby girl names for the last three years. (3.) Given the world-wide popularity of naming daughters Zoe over that last two decades, it seems that this name will be on our collective lips for many years to come.

References:

1.) www.biblical-baby-names.com/me aning-of-zoe.html

2.) www.wikipedia.org/wiki/zoe

3.) www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning /0/zoe

4.) www.thenamemachine.com

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