Noa
Feminine · “Motion" in Hebrew”
Noa is given to both — 11,815 girls and 2,434 boys since 1880. See Noa as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Noa is the name of one of five sisters in the Book of Numbers — the daughters of Zelophehad, who asked Moses for their father's inheritance and were granted it. It stayed in Hebrew use for millennia and became one of the standard girls' names of modern Israel, and in the last few decades it has turned up in Dutch, Spanish and American classrooms too. Four letters, two syllables, and nothing in it that needs explaining out loud.
How old is the name Noa?
Noa first appears in US birth records in 1970 — 55 years ago. The typical Noa is a kid of about 5 — this name's wave is very recent. About 11,500 people named Noa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Noa most popular?
Noa peaked in 2025, reaching #226 nationally. Today it ranks #226, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Noa appears on these lists:
- Short and sweet: names of four letters or fewer
- Three-letter names: tiny and complete
- Modern Hebrew names beyond the Bible
- Dutch names in the American record
- The best baby names starting with N
- all guides
Works in French families too:
Where it comes from
From נֹעָה (Noʿah, Hebrew) to Noa
The story of Noa
The Hebrew Noa and the Hebrew Noah are two different names that happen to sound alike: one belongs to a daughter of Zelophehad in Numbers, the other to the builder of the ark. Noa was revived in Hebrew-speaking Israel over the course of the twentieth century and became thoroughly ordinary there, which is how it reached the rest of the world — through Israeli use, and through the international spread of Noah. In Spain and Galicia, in the Netherlands and in France, Noa has been a familiar chart name for some time now, sometimes for girls, sometimes for boys. In the United States it arrived quietly, sat still for a long stretch, and has been climbing steadily in recent years.
Meaningscholars disagree
"Motion" in Hebrew — or, on the other road, a feminine form of Noah, "rest"
The biblical Noa (נֹעָה) is tied to the Hebrew root nua, "to move, to sway," and is usually read as "motion" or "movement." But many English-speaking families reach the spelling from the other direction, as a trimmed feminine Noah — a separate Hebrew name (נֹחַ) meaning "rest, comfort." Both readings are genuinely in play, and which one applies depends on which name the parents had in mind.
How the name formed
- נֹעָהNoʿah, Hebrew
- Noa
Related forms: נֹעָה · Noa · Noa · Noa · Noah · Noemi
Pronouncing Noa
NO-ah
In American English it is said exactly like Noah. Modern Hebrew puts the stress on the second syllable instead — no-AH — so relatives who know the name from Israel may say it differently, and both are correct in their own setting.
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
- 1970
- Most girls named
- 20251,348 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #226reached in 2025
- Change vs 2024
- +6.5%1,348 in 2025, from 1,266
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.
Noa in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- נֹעָה in Hebrew — transliteration
- Noa in Dutch — same name
- Noa in Spanish / Galician — same name
- Noa in French — same name
- Noah in English — related form
- Noemi in Italian — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, New York, Texas.
Noas among us
people named Noa are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 1,192 born in 2025 was named Noa
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Noa
- #226
- Noa on the 2025 chart
- #180
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Noa went to 1,348 girls in 2025, but Noah is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 1,816, which makes it the 180th most-given girls’ name of the year — 46 places above the chart.
- Noa1,348
- Noah468
About 1 girl in 885 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 1,192 for Noa itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Jana test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Noa's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Jana climbed just as high around 1961, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Jana's path sketches the road Noa is walking now.
Noa is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Noa is headed
Noa looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 33% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Noa beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Noa in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Short enough to need no nickname — it is already the short form, and it survives being written on a name tag, a boarding pass or a form.
- A documented history going back to the Hebrew Bible, so the name has never had to be explained as new.
- Works in several languages without changing shape: Hebrew, Dutch, Spanish, French and English all use these same four letters.
- Familiar in sound to almost every English speaker, since Noah is everywhere, while the spelling itself stays uncommon.
- Spoken aloud it is indistinguishable from Noah, which is heavily used for boys. Expect it to be written down as Noah by strangers, and expect a lifetime of "Noa — no H" as a small routine.
- Most American Noas are girls, but a real minority are boys, and in France and the Netherlands the name goes both ways. On paper alone, it will not tell people which.
- The wave here is very recent, so most people carrying this name are still young. A Noa will likely be the only one in her class now, and may meet more of them as the years pass.
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What they receive
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Noa
Feminine · #226 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Noas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 11,500 people named Noa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Noa?
- Noa is the most-used spelling in US records — 1,348 of the 1,816 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Noah.
- How popular is the name Noa in 2025?
- Noa ranks #226 among US girl names in 2025, with 1,348 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Noa?
- About 1 in every 1,192 US girls born in 2025 was named Noa — 1,348 in all.
- Will my child share the name Noa with classmates?
- Noa will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Noa
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Gracie#227 · Presley#225 · Alaina#224 · Mackenzie#228 · Kiara#229 · Elise#223 · Brianna#222 · Rory#230
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Noa? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Noa and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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