Joel Boy
How popular is Joel?
#219 boy name in 2025
1,633 baby boys were named Joel in the US in 2025, making it the 219th most popular boy name. Another 6 girls got the name (#13,204 for girls).
Joel popularity over time
Boys Girls
| Rank in 2025 | #219 for boys |
|---|---|
| Babies in 2025 | 1,633 boys, 6 girls |
| 10-year trend | Falling (-37% babies vs 2015) |
| Earlier ranks | #158 in 2015, #207 in 2020 |
| Peak year | 1985 (4,623 boys) |
| Highest rank | #65 in 1981 |
| First recorded | 1880 |
| Boys vs girls (last 10 years) | 100% boys, 0% girls |
| Chance a classmate shares it | 1% in a class of 25 kids born in 2025 |
Joel counting every spelling
Social Security counts each spelling as its own name. Adding together the spellings that sound alike, the Joel family of names ranked #231 for boys in 2025 (#235 the year before), with 1,648 babies in all.
| Spelling | Boys in 2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Joel | 1,633 | 99% |
| Joell | 15 | 1% |
Spellings are grouped by how they sound, using our own rules, so a few groupings may not match how your family says the name.
Where Joel is most popular
Babies named Joel per 1,000 boys born in each state, 2021 to 2025. Darker means more common.
- New Mexico: 1.8 per 1,000 (59 boys)
- Texas: 1.6 per 1,000 (1,400 boys)
- Maryland: 1.6 per 1,000 (188 boys)
- Arizona: 1.4 per 1,000 (232 boys)
- California: 1.4 per 1,000 (1,296 boys)
Joel by decade
| Decade | Baby boys | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 497 | #197 |
| 1890s | 393 | #239 |
| 1900s | 428 | #284 |
| 1910s | 2,178 | #280 |
| 1920s | 3,819 | #272 |
| 1930s | 8,689 | #134 |
| 1940s | 17,424 | #125 |
| 1950s | 27,859 | #104 |
| 1960s | 33,832 | #80 |
| 1970s | 37,228 | #71 |
| 1980s | 43,566 | #65 |
| 1990s | 33,804 | #94 |
| 2000s | 33,681 | #112 |
| 2010s | 25,821 | #132 |
| 2020s | 10,436 | #207 |
Boy names about as popular as Joel
Questions
- Is Joel a boy or girl name?
- Joel is mostly a boy name. Over the last 10 years, 100% of babies named Joel were boys.
- How popular is the name Joel?
- 1,633 baby boys were named Joel in the US in 2025, making it the 219th most popular boy name. Another 6 girls got the name (#13,204 for girls).
- When was Joel most popular?
- Joel peaked in 1985, when 4,623 boys were given the name. Its highest rank was #65 in 1981.
- How many people are named Joel?
- 282,250 babies have been named Joel in the US since 1880. We estimate about 236,641 of them are alive in 2026, with a median age of 40.
- Where is Joel most popular?
- From 2021 to 2025, Joel was most common in New Mexico, at 1.8 of every 1,000 boys born there.
Source: Social Security Administration baby name data, 1880 to 2025 (names given to at least 5 babies of a sex in a year). Living-people and median-age figures are our estimates using US life tables. How we calculate.