Zoe, Zoë or Zoey?

[BramwellHadThoughtOfEverything]

Just interested to know what people’s take on spelling preference for this name is and why? When first started thinking about I realised I thought Zoë was “correct” but now from reading not so sure, seems Zoe more usual English spelling? Also something I really like about Zoey. Tempted by all 3!

[IreneWinters]

Definitely Zoë. Like everyone else has said , Zoe rhymes with toe. I always read Zoey as Zo-aaay. Which isn’t a name, it’s the sound you make when you’re coming down the the stairs and you miss the bottom step.

[TatianaLarina]

Zoë.

Zoe rhymes with toe. Zoey is just grim.

[TatianaLarina]

Xpost with Irene - snap!

[StegosaurusRex]

Definitely Zoë

[sashh]

Zoe, with or without the accent.

Zoey makes me think Zoo-ee or zoe-ee

[SoftBlocks]

Zoe.

[baubled]

I'm a Zöe (should be Zoë I know, but birth register cock up apparently) it's not annoying to have the dots and I appreciate when people use them!

Zoe is pronounced Zo.

[Hepsibar]

I have never seen Zoe with the dots or the y. I feel the y is a bit silly but I love the dots and what fun she will have as a teen turning them into flowers and so forth in her signature ...

the flip side many people will forget them and I dont know if it's poss in computerised documentation prob is but I am ignorant of it.

So I would say dotty Zoe or just Zoe. (Because even though strictly pronounced as written, it rhymes with toe, we nearly all know how it's pronounced!)

[baubled]

And if anyone wants to know how to add the ë on an iPhone, just hold the e down and it will give you a few different options.

[halcyondays]

Zoe is the most usual now.

[whatevertr]

I'm a 40yo Chloë. It said so on my BC so while growing up I was very defensive of my two dots over the E.
it's only in recent years my mum admitted at the time of my being registered they wouldn't recognise the dots so SHE put them on the BC herself. Basically my mum is a fraud and I'm officially a Chloe feels weird.

Anyway, I like Zoë.
Definitely not Zoey

[SageRosemary]

Zoë in agreement with reasons from PPS

[1066vegan]

I don't like it with the y; Zoey looks too American to me. Zoë is the correct English spelling but Zoe is probably more common these days and I think that it looks fine.

I agree with the pp who said that the accent is a diaerisis rather than an umlaut. The 2 marks look identical but an umlaut is a German accent which changes the pronunciation of the vowel underneath whereas a diaerisis indicates that 2 adjacent vowels aren't a digraph (ie don't represent a single sound) but are pronounced separately. It used to be commonly used in words like naïve but is becoming obsolescent.

[OnABeachSomewhere]

Zoe. It is so commonly written without the umlaut that no-one will pronounce it to rhyme with toe. If you spell it with an umlaut lots of people will miss it off anyway.

[Astronica]

Zoe is the usual English spelling these days and everyone knows how to pronounce it. I would'nt worry about including the accent unless you particularly like them for some reason.

At first I didn't like the more recently used Zoey spelling but it has grown on me and I find it quite appealing. It's often used in the US but you'll find this spelling in other places too. Such 'correctness' on this site! The correct spelling of the name is the way that person spells it. There are traditional spellings, and popular spellings, new spellings and other language spellings, and they all have cultural implications, as this thread shows so well. Language changes, including spellings - (and seems to truamatise some people!) I'd choose either Zoe, or Zoey - as long as you're not precious.

[TatianaLarina]

If you’re named Zoë, much of the time it will be written Zoe from people who don’t know how to access the accents etc on their keyboards or don’t bother. That’s fine as long as the original is correct.

[TatianaLarina]

The correct spelling of the name is the way that person spells it.

Really? Like Sean pronounced Seen.

[1066vegan]

Wish people would rtft. It's not a bloody umlaut (as at least 3 of us have said).

[PurpleGhost]

I've got a Zoë, it's the "proper" spelling in my opinion. We just accept that it needs to be spelt without the dots sometimes, like on computer forms, but she knows that they should be there and it makes her happy when they are.
I really dislike other spellings but she gets all sorts of spellings on invitations etc. So be prepared to let misspellings go whichever spelling you actually choose.

[ErrolTheDragon]

Zoë, but be relaxed about the diaeresis.

Your DD can then choose which she prefers when she's older.

[1066vegan]

I had a "Chlöe" in my class once. I'd noticed that it was spelled with diacritical marks so automatically wrote "Chloë". I had to really bite my tongue when the mum told me that I'd put the "umlaut" over the wrong letter.

[ZaphodBeeblerox]

I have a Zoey and think it's lovely.
I also wish people wouldn't say stupid things like a name is downmarket when there are likely other people who have used the names. Just say you don't like it!
@Callingallbutterflies - what names did you think of for Zoey's sibling? Still only TTC so this is a ways off, but one can dream I suppose!

[thosethreewords]

Zoë definitely

[Marcipex]

They are all pretty.

[OnABeachSomewhere]

Yes, I know now that it isn't an umlaut, but it was a cross-post.