Zoey

The American respelling of Zoe, from the Greek zoē, meaning life, the word early Christians chose to translate the Hebrew Eve. Zoey arrived with a sitcom flutter in the early 2000s, carried on the wings of Zooey Deschanel's indie cool and Nickelodeon's Zoey 101. The y ending softened the Greek into something Midwestern and warm, and parents embraced it in droves. It currently ranks 59 and is given to about one in 448 girls. Animated films seem to love the sound, too: a quick, bright syllable that lands like a hand tap on the kitchen table. One of those names that sounds like it is already smiling.