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Zoe's cute, although quite in vogue... Zoey is forgivable, and Zooey is the dumbest thing anyone has ever seen.

I like Zoe but Zooey looks silly to me. I pronounce Zoe with an "oh" sound like in "posy" and "know", but Zooey looks like it would have a long "oo" sound like "zoo" or "soon".

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Zoey is OK but I think the Y is pretty unnecessary, Zoe on it's own is fine.

I prefer it spelt Zoe. I had a friend is highschool who's name was spelt Zowie and many people pronounced it as zow (as in wow) ee.

I prefer Zoe, and Zoey is alright. Zooey bothers me because I always want to say "ZOO-ee". I know a Zoe who's about 20 years old, so I might be biased towards that spelling.

I like Zoe best. I like it even better with the diaeresis on the E but I can't do that on my keyboard for some reason. It would probably make things more complicated but I like the way it looks.

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Zoey isn't horrible but it is not nearly as beautiful as Zoe. Zooey looks terrible, is very Deschanel and should be pronounce ZOO-ee (like Zoo+ee) for logical reasons. Ugh. I know it has been used in literature but that doesn't really make it better. As for alternate spellings I think Zoie and Zoey are ok but not great. I'd stick with Zoe.

I've never liked Zoe so I can't say I like any of the spellings. I do think Zooey looks really messy with the two Os and then an E smooshed in there. Zoe is probably the one I'd choose if I had to pick.

I really don't think there should be much debate that J. D. Salinger intended the name of his male character Zooey to rhyme with Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and not be pronounced the same as Zoe.

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In the short stories where Franny and Zooey are sister and brother, they have an older sister named Beatrice whose nickname is Boo Boo. I think it's highly unlikely that Salinger wanted that pronounced as "Bobo". So it's pretty clear to me that he also would have wanted Zooey pronounced as if it contained the word "zoo".

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I think the fact that Zooey Deschanel pronounces her name like Zoe or Zoey is rather unfortunate.

The only spelling I like is Zoe, and I think it's pretty wonderful. Zoey looks dumbed down, although I'm getting used to it, and it doesn't bother me as much as it used to. Zooey looks like it should be an adjective describing something zoo-like, as in "It smells zooey in here."

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So, on the outstandingly preferable to completely horrible scale, I'd rate Zoe the best, Zoey as okay but not great, and Zooey as darn bad.

I much prefer Zoe or Zoi (another perfectly legitimate Greek transliteration) because they are the best representations of the original Greek Ζωη. Extra letters are unnecessary. Zoe has been around for at least a couple thousand years. Why mess with perfection?

Zoe is far far preferable. Zoey and Zooey are abominations. They are dumbed down, spellings that are directed at people who don't know how to pronounce Zoe, when in reality, the spelling should not be changed, the people should become more knowledgeable.

I prefer Zoey, but Zoe is fine too. I have never cared for Zooey.

I vastly prefer Zoë. Slapping a Y on the end cheapens the name, in my opinion. I can easily see an adult Zoë, but Zoey doesn't age past her mid-teens. I always thought Zooey was ridiculous and intentionally pronounce it "Zoooo-ey."

Zoe is really growing on me although it's still a bit too trendy for my tastes. I do love the combo, Zoe Christina, and could see myself using that. No other spelling appeals to me and Zooey (which contains 'zoo' in the spelling) is the worst, imo.

I'd just stick with Zoe or Zoë. I don't really care for Zoey all that much, but I find it preferable to Zooey, which looks cluttered and like it should be pronounced ZOO-ee.

I like Zoe. The other spellings seem silly to me... esp. w/ 2 Os. The y is unnecessary... esp. w/ the name's roots.

I love Zoe, but that's it. I don't like intentional misspellings. Zooey and Zoey are horrible to me.

I would pick Zoe. It looks "cleaner", and Zooey and Zoey just look like they were spelled incorrectly to me. It's hard to resist literary names, but Zooey makes me want to say ZOO-ee instead of ZO-ee.

Not only was Salinger's Zooey male, but I just read somewhere recently that Salinger himself pronounced it to rhyme with phooey. Wikipedia says this is debatable but leans toward this explanation. So....

This message was edited 3/12/2012, 3:46 AM

Zooey looks to me like an adjective for a state you get into while at the zoo, possibly involving bits of straw and an aroma of dung. "Ew! I've just seen the giraffes and now I'm all zooey!"
Also, what everyone else said about Salinger's Zooey being a boy whose real name was Zachary.
Zoe is a nice name and I might add it to my own list.
Zoey makes me want to scream. AAAAAAAAGH

If you can get it right, why get it wrong? Unless you enjoy looking (and making your child look) uneducated ... or unless you can't trust the public to get a simple thing right.

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Zooey looks like it rhymes with gooey... cute to have a slightly childish name if you make a career off being cute, like Deschanel, or if you're a character in a story about thinking - maybe not so cute if you're just a regular person. YMMV but I'd leave the particular kind of flakiness of "Zooey" to the flakes.

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Zoey is not so bad since it seems like it's meant to head off people who'd pronounce Zoe as "Zo" but I think it also looks sort of childish.

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Zoe is the only spelling I'd use (or wish to bear).

My favorite spelling is Zoe.

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Zooey was male, and if I recall correctly in the book Zooey was a nickname for Zachary. I do agree with you that it's recognizably female now because of Zooey Deschanel, and I do prefer it to Zoey because of its literary ties, but if I were to use the name then Zoe would be the way I would go.

I like Zoey the best, it is more even and less confusing on how to pronounce it! Also I used to really love the show Zoey 101, so it is sort of honoring for me!