Uma is a sweet, strong name for a Hindu goddess... and a Hollywood one. But as popular as Uma Thurman is, other parents have not yet picked up on her name, making it a rarity.
 Uma is one of the more than one thousand appellations for the Hindu goddess Sakti, a fact that surely inspired the father of Ms. Thurman, a Columbia University professor of Eastern religion. Her middle name, Karuna, is equally unknown outside the Indian subcontinent.
 In Hebrew, Uma means "the nation," and is therefore sometimes used for girls born on Israeli Independence Day.
 Uma shouldn't be confused with the similarly sounding Una, an ancient Irish name.

Zoe is one of those surprising names that has been on the Top 1000 nearly every year since 1880, but it's only since the turn of this century that it's ranked in the Top 100. 
 
Despite its popularity in several spellings -- Zoey ranks nearly as highly -- Zoe still manages to sound distinctive. Credit the initial Z, the sleek simplicity, the not-silent final e, and the name's compelling. meaning: life.
 
The history of Zoe begins in the third century when the Alexandrian Jews translated Eve, which means 'life,' to the Greek equivalent Zoe. Zoe was in use as far back as the Roman classical period, and was popular with the early Christians, who bestowed it with hopes of eternal life, but it didn't migrate to the English-speaking world until the mid-nineteenth century.
 
Zoe Washbourne was a strong warrior in the sci-fi show Firefly, Zoe Hart the leading female character on Hart of Dixie, Zoe Barnes a journalist on House of Cards, and kids might recognize Zoe from Sesame Street.
 Zoe is currently hot around the world, popular in countries from Scotland to Spain, France to New Zealand.
 Zoe has spawned a number of variant spellings, including Zoey, Zoie, and Zooey. Zoey has been embraced by TV scripters--she has been seen on the Nickelodeon show Zoey 101, The West Wing and How I Met Your Mother. Zoie ranked in the Top 1000 for 20 years but has just dropped out. 
 Wide-eyed actress Zooey Deschanel, whose first name is pronounced the same as Zoe, was named after Zooey Glass, the male protagonist of the J. D. Salinger novella Franny and Zooey.

nextotonormal14's list "Least Favorite Names" of 2 great name ideas: Uma - Zoe!

Least Favorite Names

I don't want to offend anyone, these are just names I don't like. I'm sure others think they're lovely.

Least Favorite Names

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