Noami
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "pleasant and delightful".
Name Census estimates that about 650 living Americans carry the first name Noami. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Noami today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Noami births was 1976 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Noami. 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.
People living today
650
~ 1 in 527,314 Americans
Peak year
1976
21 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,361
Tracked since 1916
Popularity
Noami: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Noami from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 108 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Noami remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Noami 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 Noami during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Noamis live
Origin
Meaning and history of Noami
The name Noami is of Hebrew origin, derived from the Hebrew word "noam," which means "pleasantness" or "delightfulness." It is believed to have originated in ancient Israel during biblical times.
One of the earliest and most notable references to the name Noami can be found in the Book of Ruth in the Hebrew Bible. Noami was the mother-in-law of Ruth, a Moabite woman who embraced the Israelite faith and became an ancestor of King David and, according to Christian tradition, of Jesus Christ.
In the biblical account, Noami's husband and two sons died, leaving her and her daughters-in-law widowed. She urged her daughters-in-law to return to their families, but Ruth remained loyal to her, leading to the famous quote: "Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God."
The name Noami has been used throughout Jewish history, with several notable individuals bearing the name. One of the earliest recorded examples is Noami, the daughter of Rabbi Eleazar ben Tsadok, a prominent Jewish sage who lived in the 1st century CE.
Another famous Noami was Noami Lubrani (1914-2014), an Israeli diplomat and the first woman to serve as ambassador for Israel. She played a crucial role in establishing diplomatic relations between Israel and several African nations.
In the realm of literature, Noami Shemer (1930-2004) was an Israeli singer-songwriter and poet who composed some of the most beloved songs in Israeli culture, including "Yerushalayim Shel Zahav" ("Jerusalem of Gold").
Noami Prins (born 1968) is an American author, journalist, and public speaker known for her critical analysis of the financial industry and her advocacy for economic reform.
Noami Lazarus (1887-1939) was a Polish-born American activist and educator who played a significant role in the labor movement and the fight for women's rights in the early 20th century.
While the name Noami has Hebrew roots, it has been embraced by various cultures and communities worldwide, transcending its original linguistic and cultural boundaries.
People
Noami + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Noami as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with N
Other first names starting with N with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Noami: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Noami?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 650 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Noami 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 527,314 US residents.
Is Noami a common name?
We classify Noami as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 899 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Noami most popular?
The single biggest year for Noami was 1976, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Noami is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Noami a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Noami 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.