Zoë?

[Teaandbiscuits12]

Hello!

What are your thoughts on the name Zoë?

I love the meaning of Zoë and, whilst I know a few in their 30s and 40s, I have not met many little ones.

A classic or a little dated? How common is it in your area?

Thanks in advance!

I have a Zoë she's 13. So I think it's a great names he's always been the only one at school or clubs

I know 3 Zoes all over 30.
I think it’s easy to pronounce and easy to pronounce with the umlauts (dots) over the letter E.

Zoe Ball, 52
Zoe Wanamaker, 73

FWIW it’s a diaeresis rather than an umlaut. They look the same but do different jobs. An umlaut changes the sound of a vowel; a diaeresis tells you to pronounce it separately rather than forming a diphthong, eg Zoë, Chloë, naïve.

My Zoë is 10 months old :) a week later another Zoë was born in the distant family. I heard a 3 ish year old Zoë being called at the airport (flight from Greece though!), and I know there is a 7 year old Zoë locally. So not unusual at all. But everyone says (midwives, docs etc) ‘oh wow, I haven’t seen a baby Zoë for YEARS!!’.

So I think it’s a really good balance of not overused, bit cool, can suit any age - I can easily imagine an 80 year old Zoë. But I have heard it a LOT since she was born so maybe it’s on the rise. (Or my ears have just got attuned to it).

Agree it’s a mum name as was popular in 80s. But my name is Harriet and there are loads of baby Harriets now. So it’s like, which is the mum and which is the baby 😄 I can’t really see why PPs would think that could be an issue in life 😵‍💫 who cares!

Also she’s Zoë on birth cert and we’ve applied for passport which I believe has to be Zoe, so I’ll let you know if there’s any issues 😄 don’t think so so far!

Oh no sorry, other kid needs new passport. Zoë already has hers. So there were no issues.

It's a beautiful name, and classic, as you say.

I would go for Zoe if you're in the uk

Love it. It would be on my shortlist if I was having a girl

Lovely name

It's a gorgeous classic
I know one who is 11, one who is 19, one who is 30 and a couple in their 40s/50s.
I've always liked it - the meaning is great, the sound is nice... Most people won't spell it with the 2 dots but I wouldn't see that as a huge problem.

Love it, was going to be DS2's name had he been a girl

I think it sounds harsh.

I really love it. I was an 80s child so grew up with quite a few but it doesn't seem like it's particularly dated - I wouldn't put it in the same bracket as Claire, Gemma or Sarah for example and I also grew up with loads of those.

Also very easy to spell and very international.

I like that it’s ‘harsh’ and purposefully didn’t want a frilly floppy frilly name for a girl, or a girl version of a boy name. So that narrowed the list down a lot 😄

I’m a Zoë (with the diaeresis), so my ears tend to prick up whenever I hear of another one. It’s definitely rarer than when I was born in the ‘80s, but very much still in current use; I have a 5-year-old DD and have come across maybe 3/4 baby and toddler Zoës at various groups and classes with her. The most recent one was at a soft play after school yesterday.

It’s definitely not one of the zeitgeisty names though - most of DD’s Reception cohort are variations on things like Eva/Ava/Isla/Luna/Aria, so a Zoë would definitely stand out a bit. I do think some people associate it with the 80s/90s, but it’s definitely fared better than most of my friends’ names in terms of dating - most of my circle were called things like Claire/Sarah/Rachel/Julie/Danielle/Lindsay, which you never hear of nowadays!

I like that it’s ‘harsh’ and purposefully didn’t want a frilly floppy frilly name for a girl, or a girl version of a boy name.

In that case I think it’s perfect - I’m not a ‘girly girl’ at all and it’s served me well! Love having Z as my initial too. Our criteria for DD were similar and we chose a similarly harsh/non frilly name for her.

Sometimes Zoé in French

lovely, but get rid of the dots

I know a 6 year old Zoe & she's just like her name - short, fun & funky!

Yes, but it changes the pronunciation.

Zoé is zo-ay
Zoë is zo-ee

Zoé and Zoë both sound the samein French.
I'd use Zoë, and not be too bothered if the diaresis was omitted.
Zoé, looks wrong. Zoey looks a bit like a misspelling.

Zoé is zo-ay
Zoë is zo-ee

No Zoé is not Zo-ay

I'd pronounce them both exactly the same in French.

I'd still spell it Zoë as that makes the pronunciation clear in other languages like German etc

I'm a Zoë. I always say it's a good name as it's not unusual and a name everyone knows but I'm normally the only one. I was the only one in my primary school and one of 3 in high school.
Also, I was much more militant about people forgetting the dots when I was a kid, doesn't bother me these days (although if it's something I have to look at a lot, I have been known to add them in!)