Masterpiece Generator Name Generator
How popular is the name Joel?
Births per year, rank history and how many Joels are alive today.
Joel (male) sits just outside the top 100 boys' names in England and Wales, ranked 223rd in 2025 with 223 babies given the name. The name peaked in 2005, when 978 babies were given the name, the 69th most popular that year. It has declined since 2005; the 2025 figure is roughly 23% of its peak. Numbers have been falling in recent years. At least 20,000 babies have been named Joel in England and Wales since 1994. Figures before 1996 are estimates.
The Joel you are most likely to meet is around 21 years old. Half of all Joels born in England and Wales are between 15 and 31, and there are at least 26,000 of them alive today. If you walk into a room of 100 males, there's roughly an 8.2% chance that at least one of them will be called Joel.
How many babies are named Joel each year?
Where does Joel rank among boys' names?
Where this data comes from
Figures from 1996 onwards are the Office for National Statistics' annual baby-name registrations for England and Wales, which record every name given to three or more babies in a year. Figures before 1996 are estimates: the ONS published only top-100 rankings at ten-year intervals back to 1904, so counts for those years are modelled from the rankings, calibrated against Douglas Galbi's long-run research into English name frequencies, and shown with an uncertainty band. Estimates of living bearers combine these birth figures with national life tables and ONS mid-year population estimates.
One limit worth naming: these figures count names as registered at birth. Anyone who changes their name later in life - including trans people, and anyone who adopts a different name by deed poll or simply by use - is not reflected here. Birth registrations record where a name began, not the name a person lives with.
Common questions
When was the name Joel most popular?
Joel peaked in 2005, when 978 babies in England and Wales were given the name.
How many people are called Joel?
At least 26,000 people named Joel born in England and Wales are alive today.
How old is the typical Joel?
Most living Joels are between 15 and 31; the most common age is about 21.
Is Joel becoming more or less popular?
Declining: recent figures are a fraction of the 2005 peak.