# Joel (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/joel/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | Hebrew |
| Meaning | “yahweh (is) god” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈd͡ʒoʊ(ə)l/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Yoel |
| US babies named this | 282,250 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 279,655 / 2,595 (1% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 19,230, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Hebrew יוֹאֵל (yo'él, “Yahweh (is) God”). As a medieval French and English given name, it is also from Breton Judicaël (related to Joyce and Jocelyn). Cf. Elijah.

## What it means

Joel is grouped under god.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 10 | 11,190 |
| 2008 | 9 | 12,047 |
| 2009 | 5 | 18,604 |
| 2010 | 9 | 11,706 |
| 2011 | 13 | 8,867 |
| 2014 | 11 | 9,823 |
| 2015 | 5 | 17,688 |
| 2016 | 10 | 10,439 |
| 2017 | 6 | 14,923 |
| 2018 | 8 | 11,915 |
| 2019 | 6 | 14,590 |
| 2021 | 7 | 12,789 |
| 2023 | 8 | 11,648 |
| 2024 | 8 | 11,580 |
| 2025 | 6 | 13,970 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 3,056 | 132 |
| 2012 | 2,780 | 144 |
| 2013 | 2,727 | 144 |
| 2014 | 2,672 | 154 |
| 2015 | 2,602 | 159 |
| 2016 | 2,427 | 166 |
| 2017 | 2,265 | 177 |
| 2018 | 2,132 | 188 |
| 2019 | 2,095 | 187 |
| 2020 | 1,843 | 207 |
| 2021 | 1,797 | 211 |
| 2022 | 1,780 | 209 |
| 2023 | 1,745 | 212 |
| 2024 | 1,638 | 219 |
| 2025 | 1,633 | 219 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 3 | 3,795 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 712 | 88 |
| 2012 | 621 | 101 |
| 2013 | 594 | 105 |
| 2014 | 570 | 107 |
| 2015 | 591 | 109 |
| 2016 | 524 | 119 |
| 2017 | 540 | 117 |
| 2018 | 447 | 130 |
| 2019 | 322 | 164 |
| 2020 | 332 | 161 |
| 2021 | 310 | 173 |
| 2022 | 239 | 214 |
| 2023 | 306 | 170 |
| 2024 | 240 | 209 |
| 2025 | 223 | 223 |

## In other languages

- Armenian: Հովել
- Chinese: 喬爾 /乔尔
- Czech: Joel
- Danish: Joel
- Dutch: Joël
- Estonian: Joel
- Finnish: Joel
- French: Joël
- German: Joel
- Greek: Ιωήλ, Ιωήλος
- Hebrew: יוֹאֵל
- Hungarian: Joel
- Icelandic: Jóel
- Irish: Ióéil
- Italian: Gioele
- Japanese: ヨエル
- Latin: Ioel
- Latvian: Joēl
- Lithuanian: Joelis
- Norwegian: Joel

## People named Joel

- Haley Joel Osment, American actor
- Joel Schumacher, American director, screenwriter, and producer (1939–2020)
- Joel, biblical prophet associated with the Book of Joel
- Joël Matip, Cameroonian-German association football player (born 1991)
- Joel McHale, American actor and comedian
- Joel Campbell, Costa Rican footballer
- Joel Grey, American actor, singer, dancer, director, and photographer (born 1932)
- Joel Griffiths, Australian association football player
- Joël Veltman, Dutch association football player (born 1992)
- Joel Mokyr, American-Israeli economic historian
- Joel Edgerton, Australian actor
- Joel Pohjanpalo, Finnish footballer

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.