Joell
Feminine · “the Lord is God”
Joell is given to both — 1,029 girls and 1,200 boys since 1880. See Joell as a boy nameSee other names given to both
The book of the Bible that carries this name is about locusts. Four kinds of them, arriving in waves, stripping a country bare — and the description is so exact that entomologists have used it to identify the stages of a desert locust swarm. It is one of the most frightening pieces of writing in the prophets and it is three pages long.
How old is the name Joell?
Joell first appears in US birth records in 1939 — 86 years ago. The typical Joell alive today was born around 1969, making them about 56 years old. About 900 people named Joell are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Joell most popular?
Joell peaked in 1966, reaching #922 nationally. See the whole 1966 chart.
Where it comes from
From two Hebrew names of God joined into one word to Joell
The story of Joell
The locust passage is worth reading once. What the swarm has left, the next kind eats; the land is like Eden before them and a desert behind them; they run like horsemen, they climb walls, they enter houses through the windows like a thief. The prophet is describing an actual invasion of insects and using it as an image for something worse, and the writing is so precise about how the swarm moves that agricultural scientists have quoted it. The book then turns, quite suddenly, into a promise about restoration and about sons and daughters prophesying — the passage that gets quoted at Pentecost and that almost nobody realizes comes after the locusts.
Meaning
the Lord is God
The name puts two of the Hebrew names of God together in one word, which makes it a statement rather than a description. The doubled l in this spelling is an American addition — the standard form has one — and it changes nothing audible, since the sound is a single consonant however many letters are written for it.
How the name formed
- two Hebrew names of God joined into one word
- a short prophetic book about a locust invasion
- Joel established in English after the Reformation
- Joell appears as an American spelling in the 1960s
- used for sons and daughters alike
Related forms: Yoel · Joel · Joel
Pronouncing Joell
JOH-ul
Two syllables, stress at the front, identical to the standard spelling. The doubled letter is entirely a matter of the eye.
Nicknames for Joell
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1939
- Most girls named
- 1966120 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #922reached in 1966
- Change vs 2011
- 0.0%5 in 2012, from 5
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Joell in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Yoel in Hebrew — same name
- Joel in English — spelling variant
- Joel in Spanish — same name
Joells among us
people named Joell are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Joell sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It is short, biblical and completely readable in English and Spanish alike.
- It works for a child of either sex, and the record carries it on both sides.
- The meaning is clear and easy to explain.
- The extra letter will be dropped by every clerk and database he meets.
- Joel is far commoner and will be written instead.
- The name is currently held for both sexes, which occasionally confuses forms.
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What they receive
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Joell
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Joells are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 900 people named Joell are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Joell in 2025?
- Joell is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Joell with classmates?
- Joell will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More J names
The most-given names starting with J, all years combined.
Jennifer#586 · Jessica#665 · Janet#2778 · Julie#872 · Joyce#1071 · Joan#1085 · Julia#131 · Jean#2117
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Joell? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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