Zoya

Did you know?

A few things about Zoya you might not know, from US birth records and Wikipedia. Handy for convincing a partner, or a grandparent.

⭐ Famous Zoya

Zoya Akhtar

Indian film director

Choose Zoya and your child shares a first name with Zoya Akhtar, an Indian film director. A ready-made answer when someone asks “Zoya, like who?” Zoya Akhtar's Wikipedia article is available in 35 languages, a good sign of just how widely known they are.

Read about Zoya Akhtar on Wikipedia ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Photo: Kevin Payravi, CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab), via Wikimedia Commons

• 👶How commonAbout 1 in every 6,378 baby girls born in the US in 2025 was named Zoya, 252 babies in all. In a typical school of 500 kids, your Zoya would very likely be the only one.
• 📜HistoryZoya first shows up in US birth records in 1963, the first year at least 5 babies got it. It has been in use for 62 years since.
• 🏆Best yearIts best year was 2022, when it reached #789.
• 📈Then vs nowZoya is 4.8× more common today than it was in 2000. In 2000 it was given to about 1 in 30,303 baby girls; in 2025, about 1 in 6,378.
• 🍂TrendZoya has slipped 81 places over the last five years and now sits at #1,000. Good news if you want a familiar name that fewer kids will share.
• 📍Where it's lovedZoya is most popular in Washington, where it ranks #430, followed by New York (#533) and Connecticut (#540). It's in the top 1,000 in 11 states.
• 💬MeaningZoya is a Russian form of Zoe, which means “life”.

About the name Zoya

Zoya is a girl name meaning “life”. It has 4 letters and 2 syllables, starting with Z and ending in “-oya”. US birth records list Zoya for girls from 1963 to 2025, in 41 of those 63 years. Its best year was 2022, when it ranked #789 among girl names. In 2025 it ranked #1,000, with 252 babies.