ninan.org

Joel

Boys' name · Late 20th-century

Living in the US
~238,000 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#219 among boys
Births in 2025
1,639 282,250 since 1880
Typical age
40 years, median

Joel popularity over time

Joel rank by birth year, 1880–2025Joel ranked #262 in 1880 and #219 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #65, in 1981.#100#219best #65 in 198118901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1880–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

1985 is the peak year for Joel, with 4,661 births. It appears in the very first year SSA covers, 1880. Joel has spent 26 years inside the national top 100.

The 2025 position is #219, on 1,639 births. Over ten years the count has fallen 37%.

Babies named Joel per yearPeaks at 4,661 births in 1985.4,661 in 1985018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Joel?

About 238,000 people named Joel are alive in the United States today. SSA has recorded 282,250 births under the name since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Joel?

Half of living Joels are older than 40, half younger. More of them were born in the 1980s than in any other decade. By the site’s era rules that makes Joel a late 20th-century name.

Your Joel

Ages of living people named JoelHalf of living Joels are older than 40 and half younger.median 40020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Joel is most common

New Mexico uses the name 1.9× as often as the country as a whole. Texas, Maryland and Arizona follow.

Where Joel is used more than average5 states use the name Joel more than the national average.Alaska: not over-representedAKMaine: not over-representedMEVermont: not over-representedVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: not over-representedWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: not over-representedMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: 1.4× the national rateNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: not over-representedNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: not over-representedCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: not over-representedVAMaryland: 1.6× the national rateMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: not over-representedMAArizona: 1.4× the national rateAZNew Mexico: 1.9× the national rateNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: not over-representedDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: 1.6× the national rateTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Joel is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
New Mexico 131 1.9×
Texas 3,118 1.6×
Maryland 424 1.6×
Arizona 506 1.4×
New York 1,410 1.4×

Joel in England and Wales

In England and Wales, Joel ranked #223 in 2025 on 223 births. That is 33% lower than five years earlier.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Joel comes from

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

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Joel

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Joel Schumacher American director, screenwriter, and producer 1939–2020 54
Joel McHale American actor and comedian 1971 49
Joel Kinnaman Swedish-American actor 1979 46
Joel Campbell Costa Rican footballer 1992 45
Joel Grey American actor, singer, dancer, director, and photographer 1932 43
Joel Griffiths Australian association football player 1979 43
Joel Mokyr American-Israeli economic historian 1946 41
Joel Edgerton Australian actor 1974 40
Photo credits (7)

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Names similar to Joel

Matched by sound and spelling inside this dataset, then ordered by total recorded births. This is not a claim about shared etymology.

Same feel, less common

The same matches, limited to names given at most half as often as Joel was in 2025.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/joel.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).