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Zooey
OriginLiterary name or variation of Zoe, Greek
Meaning"life"
About Zooey
Readers who remember J. D. Salinger's Franny and Zooey have probably forgotten that the character was male (nee Zachary). Nowadays the somewhat loopy spin on Zoe is associated with actress Zooey Deschanel.
Pronounced ZOO-ee.
As of October 2026, Zooey ranked #13199 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #1250 in 2012.
Editor's take: The name Zooey is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "life".
Popularity & trends
US popularity — history
US rank, lower is more popular · SSA data 2014–2025
Actual · SSA
20142025
18802025
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #1,867 | 109 | 61 |
| 2015 | #2,350 | 79 | 44.3 |
| 2016 | #2,901 | 59 | 33.3 |
| 2017 | #3,142 | 52 | 30.1 |
| 2018 | #4,141 | 35 | 20.6 |
| 2019 | #4,436 | 32 | 19.1 |
| 2020 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | #4,959 | 27 | 16.5 |
| 2022 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | — | 0 | 0 |
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Zooey on lists
Famous Zooeys
- Zooey Claire Deschanel
American actress.
Zooey in pop culture
- Zooey Rice
fiancée in film "I Love You, Man".
- Zooey Renner
character in film "3 Days to Kill".
- Zooey
truck in "Bigfoot Presents: Meteor and the Mighty Monster Trucks".
Zooey in blog posts
Save Zooey
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