Xoey

Meaning & origin

Xoey is a modern spelling variant of Zoe that first appeared in U.S. birth records in 2006. Though still uncommon, with a rank of 4,460 in 2025 and an incidence of 1 in 51,847 births that year, the name has been on a steady upward trajectory since its debut, reaching its peak popularity so far in 2024. The substitution of 'X' for 'Z' reflects a broader trend of creative respellings in American baby names, and the name remains most concentrated in states that favor innovative spellings. Despite its recent coinage, Xoey carries the ancient and positive meaning of 'life' through its Greek root.

Xoey is a respelling of Zoe, which derives from the Greek ζωή (zoe) meaning 'life'. The name Zoe was adopted by early Christians as a symbol of eternal life and became common in the English-speaking world in the 19th century. Xoey emerged in the early 2000s as part of a trend of replacing 'Z' with 'X' for a distinctive spelling, notably influenced by the singer Zöe (or Zoë) and the character Xoe from the television series 'Angel' (1999-2004), though the exact inspiration is uncertain.