Joel

Where Joel comes from

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.
— Wiktionary's entry for Joel
  • Hebrew
  • 2 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1 BC
    Joel born
    biblical prophet associated with the Book of Joel
  2. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #262 among boys — 41 babies in the first year on record.
  3. 1971
    Joel McHale born
    American actor and comedian
  4. 1981
    Peak, #65
    4,540 babies named Joel — more than any year before or since.
  5. 2017
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #177.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name from Hebrew.
Namesakes
  • Joel · biblical prophet associated with the Book of Joel, 1 BC–700 BC
  • Joel McHale · American actor and comedian, born 1971
  • Joel Kinnaman · Swedish-American actor, born 1979
  • Joel Campbell · Costa Rican footballer, born 1992
  • Joel Grey · American actor, singer, dancer, director, and photographer, born 1932

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.