Joela
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly a Hebrew variant of Joelle.
Name Census estimates that about 16 living Americans carry the first name Joela. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Joela today is around 32 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Joela births was 1971 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Joela. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Joela. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
16
~ 1 in 21,422,146 Americans
Peak year
1971
7 babies that year
Average age
32
years old
2017 SSA rank
#17,026
Tracked since 1971
Popularity
Joela: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Joela from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 7 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1970s peak, Joela remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Joela by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Joela during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Joela
The name Joela is derived from the Hebrew name Yoel, which means "Jehovah is God." This name can be traced back to ancient Judaic traditions and texts, with its origins likely dating back to the biblical era.
In the Hebrew Bible, the name Yoel appears as one of the twelve minor prophets. The Book of Joel is attributed to a prophet of this name, believed to have lived in the 5th century BCE in the ancient Kingdom of Judah.
The name Joela is a feminine variation of the Hebrew masculine name Yoel. While less common than its masculine counterpart, Joela has been used as a given name throughout history, primarily within Jewish and Christian communities.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Joela can be found in the writings of medieval Jewish scholar and philosopher Maimonides (1135-1204 CE), who mentions a woman with this name in his legal treatise Mishneh Torah.
During the Renaissance period, a notable figure named Joela Gerson (1363-1429) was a French philosopher and theologian who played a significant role in the Western Schism of the Catholic Church.
In the 17th century, Joela Rousseau (1612-1685) was a French Calvinist pastor and theologian who contributed to the development of Reformed Protestant theology.
In the 19th century, Joela Fortuna (1838-1914) was an Italian-American sculptor and artist known for her works depicting religious and mythological themes.
More recently, Joela Ceddia (born 1998) is a Brazilian-American YouTuber and social media personality who gained popularity for her lifestyle and comedy videos.
While not an exhaustive list, these examples demonstrate the historical presence and use of the name Joela across various cultures, time periods, and fields of influence.
People
Joela + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Joela as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with J
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Joela: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Joela?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 16 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Joela going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 21,422,146 US residents.
Is Joela a common name?
We classify Joela as "Very Rare". It ranks above 36.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 17 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Joela most popular?
The single biggest year for Joela was 1971, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Joela is about 32 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Joela a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Joela in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.