US Popularity Rank: 11283

Origin: Slavic

Meaning: Life

One of the many variants of Zoe, Zoia is a feminine name of Slavic and Russian origin. Zoe itself is of Greek origin, but the meaning of "life" remains the same. Zoia Markova Horn put the name on the map in the early 1970s. In 1972, she became the first United States librarian to be jailed for refusing to share information as a matter of conscience. She spent three weeks behind bars after refusing to testify for the prosecution in the conspiracy trial of the "Harrisburg Seven" anti-war activists. Her memoirs were published in 1995 before The Intellectual Freedom Committee of the California Library Association named an award in her honor. Zoia lived her life for good, paving the way for baby Zoia.