Noell
Feminine · “Christmas”
Noell is given to both — 634 girls and 88 boys since 1880. See other names given to both
Noell is Noel with a doubled l, the Christmas name sitting halfway between the boys' Noel and the girls' Noelle. English once spelled the word Nowell, and the carol still does.
How old is the name Noell?
Noell first appears in US birth records in 1945 — 80 years ago. The typical Noell alive today was born around 1987, making them about 38 years old. About 600 people named Noell are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Noell most popular?
Noell peaked in 1967, reaching #2706 nationally. See the whole 1967 chart.
Where it comes from
From natalis to Noell
The story of Noell
English borrowed the French Noël in the Middle Ages and wrote it Nowell, and 'The First Nowell' keeps that spelling, though almost everyone sings it as if it were Noel. The name has been given to children born at Christmas for centuries. Its most famous twentieth-century bearer was the playwright Noël Coward, who wrote Private Lives in about four days in 1929 while recovering from influenza in a Shanghai hotel. Noell, with its doubled l, is used mostly for girls in the American record, with a real minority of boys.
Meaning
Christmas
From French Noël, from Latin natalis, '(day) of birth'.
How the name formed
- natalis
- Noël
- Nowell
- Noell
Related forms: Noël · Noëlle · Natale · Natividad
Pronouncing Noell
noh-EL
Two syllables with the stress on the second, like Noelle.
Nicknames for Noell
Limited
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
- 1945
- Most girls named
- 196721 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2706reached in 1967
- Change vs 2020
- −50.0%5 in 2022, from 10
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.
Noell in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Noël in French — same name
- Noëlle in French — related form
- Natale in Italian — related form
- Natividad in Spanish — related form
Noells among us
people named Noell 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
Noell 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
- A settled, easily explained meaning tied to a birthday season.
- Sounds like Noel and Noelle, names everyone knows.
- Works for either child.
- People will write Noel or Noelle depending on whether they expect a boy or a girl.
- A child born far from December will be asked about it.
- Most children with this spelling are girls, but a real minority are boys; either may be taken for the other.
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What they receive
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Noell
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Noells are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Noell are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Noell in 2025?
- Noell is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Noell with classmates?
- Noell will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More N names
The most-given names starting with N, all years combined.
Nancy#965 · Nicole#382 · Natalie#89 · Norma#2002 · Nora#20 · Naomi#47 · Nellie#533 · Nina#324
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Noell? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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