Zoja
A latecomer in Poland: barely given before the 2010s, it climbs fast now, with more newborn girls carrying it last year than ever before. From Greek, where it means simply "life", and it goes only to girls.
Zoja Pronunciation
Zoja is pronounced ZO-yah (/ˈzɔja/).
What Zoja means
Where Zoja comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Zoja comes from Greek. The root is zoē, the ordinary word for life. Early Christians in the Greek East gave that name to Eve, since Scripture calls her the mother of all the living, and so a common noun became a woman's name.
The variant Zoya carries the same root eastward, through Russian and Ukrainian usage, where the spelling shifts but the meaning holds at życie, life. A martyr called Zoë stands in the old calendars, which is why Polish name-day lists mark Zoja on the second and fifteenth of May, with the fifth of July kept in some.
The name stays rare. It has been gaining ground. Picture a class register where Zoja sits among the more familiar spellings, four letters that mean life.
How many people are named Zoja
1 in 4818 women in Poland is named Zoja. 4,679 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #501 among female names.
Zoja's popularity over time
609 girls were given the name in 2025, ranking #97 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2003.
Where parents choose Zoja
Zoja is most popular in Lubusz, 41% above the national average (106 girls born 2019–2025), followed by Greater Poland (+39%) and West Pomeranian (+30%). It is least common in Holy Cross and Lublin, 51% and 48% below average respectively.
-
Lubusz
+41%1 in 468 babies
-
Greater Poland
+39%1 in 475 babies
-
West Pomeranian
+30%1 in 509 babies
-
Holy Cross
−51%1 in 1,352 babies
-
Lublin
−48%1 in 1,283 babies
-
Subcarpathian
−48%1 in 1,283 babies
-
Lubusz+41% 106 born1 in 468 babies+41%
-
Greater Poland+39% 453 born1 in 475 babies+39%
-
West Pomeranian+30% 166 born1 in 509 babies+30%
-
Pomeranian+24% 275 born1 in 536 babies+24%
-
Lower Silesian+22% 289 born1 in 544 babies+22%
-
Łódź+15% 220 born1 in 576 babies+15%
-
Masovian+10% 590 born1 in 600 babies+10%
-
Opole+5% 73 born1 in 631 babies+5%
-
Warmian-Masurian+1% 109 born1 in 659 babies+1%
-
Kuyavian-Pomeranian−12% 145 born1 in 754 babies−12%
-
Silesian−14% 294 born1 in 774 babies−14%
-
Lesser Poland−24% 261 born1 in 869 babies−24%
-
Podlaskie−34% 66 born1 in 997 babies−34%
-
Lublin−48% 80 born1 in 1,283 babies−48%
-
Subcarpathian−48% 94 born1 in 1,283 babies−48%
-
Holy Cross−51% 41 born1 in 1,352 babies−51%
Zoja as a middle name
Zoja is a first name for 4,679 women in Poland and a middle name for another 369, a 93/7 split. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 352nd, between Leonia (373) and Narcyza (367).
-
#350 Lara377
-
#351 Leonia373
-
#352 Zoja369
-
#353 Narcyza367
-
#354 Nur367