Joel

What Joel means

Meaning not yet sourced. Wiktionary has no word-by-word meaning for Joel yet, and we don’t write our own.

Editor’s note Down from #158 in 2015 to #219 in 2025 in the US Worked out from the official US and England & Wales counts, not a meaning.

How popular is Joel?

US: Falling: down from #158 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #109 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1980, when 4,564 boys got the name (#67 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 1,046 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 1,219 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 1,511 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in NM (2.15 per 1,000 boys), ND (1.79 per 1,000 boys), MD (1.62 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Joel is #219 in the US and #223 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.6% of US babies named Joel were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Jael147 US
• Joell15 US · 3 E&W
• Joelle5 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Joel

Boys

• Johnathan#508Variant of Jonathan, meaning “God has given”^*
• Andrew#73“manly”^*
• Jonathan#89“God has given”^*
• Joshua#66“to save”^*
• Jordan#131Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #59 in 2015, #131 in 2025
• Mathew#973Variant of Matthew, meaning “gift of the Lord”^*

For a sister

• Molly#196Editor’s note Down from #144 in 2015 to #196 in 2025 in the US
• Jenna#679Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1985, with 6,436 babies; 418 in 2025
• Samantha#151“listener”^*
• Michelle#465Feminine form of Michel, meaning “who is like God?”^*
• Rebekah#884“enchantingly beautiful, captivating, snare”^*
• Jessica#665possibly “Iscah in Genesis 11:29, Jescha in the Wycliffe…^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Bible, Hebrew, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Joel’s. Rank is US 2025.