Noel or Noël has been in use as both a given name and a surname since the 12th century. It has been traditionally given to children born over the Christmas period, and most early baptisms of the name took place in December or early January. The name Noel has been given to both boys and girls on this holiday since the Middle Ages. According to the US Social Security Administration, girls named Noel ranked #587 in popularity in 1987. The Diaeresis (diacritic), diaeresis (¨) can be used over the e and is used when there are two vowels next to one another that should be pronounced as separate syllables instead of a diphthong. It should not be confused with the umlaut (also two dots), a diacritical mark that represents a change in the pronunciation of the letter. Other nicknames and modern variations for girls named Noel are: Noele, Noeline, Nowell (given name), Nowell, Noela, Noell, Noella, Noelene, Noeleen, and the French specific feminine spelling distinguished by adding the "le" to the ending of the name, (Noelle). Noel derives from the old French Noël "Christmas", a variant (and later a replacement) of nael, which itself derives from the Latin natalis "birth". The term natalis dies (birth day) was long used in Church Latin in reference to the birthday of Christ—or in other words: Christmas. In modern English, a Noel can also be used to refer to a Christmas carol.

People

*Noël (singer), American disco singer *Noel Agazarian (1916–1941), British pilot *Noel Barrionuevo (b. 1984), Argentine female professional field hockey player and Olympian *Noel Bauldeweyn (c. 1480–1513), Franco-Flemish composer *Noel Blanc (b. 1938), American voice actor, son of Mel Blanc *Noel Cabangon (b. 1963), Filipino singer *Noel Chavasse (1884–1917), British medical officer and decorated hero *Noel Clarke (b. 1975), English actor and writer *Noël Coward (1899–1973), British actor, playwright, and popular music composer *Noel Devine (b. 1988), American football player *Noel Dyson (1916–1995), British actress *Noel Edmonds (b. 1948), British television presenter and DJ *Noel Emmanuel (b. 1960), 6th Roman Catholic Diocese of Trincomalee, Bishop of Trincomalee *Noel Fielding (b. 1973), British comedian and television actor *Noel Fisher (b. 1984), Canadian actor *Noel Francis (c. 1906–1959), American Actress *Noel Gallagher (b. 1967), English musician *Noel V. Ginnity (fl. 1957-2020's), Irish comedian *Noël Godin (b. 1945), Belgian writer *Noel Harrison (1934–2013), British actor and singer *Noel Hood (1909–1979), British actress *Noel Jenke (1946–2020), American football player *Noel King (b. 1956), Republic of Ireland national under-21 football team, Republic of Ireland U-21s football manager *Noel LaMontagne (b. 1977), American football player *Noel Langley (1911–1980), South African novelist, screenwriter and director *Noël Leslie, Countess of Rothes (b. 1878), heroine of the Titanic disaster *Noël Martin (1959–2020), British activist and neo-Nazi attack victim *Noel Neill (1920–2016), American actress *Noel Pagan or ''Noel'', American freestyle musician *Noel Paul Stookey (b. 1937), American folk musician *Noel Redding (1945–2003), English guitarist and bassist *Noël Regney (1922–2002), French songwriter *Noel Rosa (1910–1937), Brazilian songwriter and musician * Noel Rosal (b. 1964), Filipino politician *Noel Stanton (1926–2009), founder of the Jesus Army *Noel Stockdale (1920–2004), English businessman *Noel Streatfeild (1895–1986), British author (Ballet Shoes) *Noel Sullivan (b. 1980), Welsh singer and actor *Noel Toy (1918–2003), Actress *Noel Thatcher, British paralympic athlete *Noel Walsh (1935–2020), Irish Gaelic footballer, administrator, selector, manager and member of the Defence Forces *Noel Whelan (b. 1974), English professional footballer *Noël Wells (b. 1986), American comedian and actress *Noel Wimalasena (1914–1994), Sri Lankan Sinhala diplomat, 1st List of Governors of Sabaragamuwa, Governor of Sabaragamuwa Province, Sri Lanka *María Noel (b. 1943), Uruguayan model and actress

Fictional characters

*Noël (comics), a character and comics series by André Franquin *Noel (mermaid), in the manga and anime series ''Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch'' *Noel K. Ehrlichkeit, in the ''Triangle Heart'' video game *List of BlazBlue characters#Noel Vermillion, Noel Vermillion in the fighting game series ''BlazBlue'' *Final Fantasy XIII-2#Noel Kreiss, Noel Kreiss, from the video game ''Final Fantasy XIII-2'' *Sora no Woto#Noel Kannagi, Noël Kannagi, from the anime ''Sora No Woto'' *Kaitou Sentai Lupinranger VS Keisatsu Sentai Patranger, Noël Takao, from the Super Sentai series ''Lupinranger VS Patranger'' *Noel Shempsky, in the tv show ''Frasier'' *Noel Seeker, in the video game series Legend of Heroes: ''Trails from Zero'', ''Trails to Azure'', ''Trails into Reverie''

In names for Santa Claus

*Père Noël, the French equivalent to Santa Claus, literally translated "Father Christmas" *Papá Noel, the Spanish and Latin American equivalent *Pare Noel, the Catalan-speaking regions' equivalent *Papai Noel, the Brazilian equivalent *Baba Noel, the Chaldean and Arabic equivalent

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Noel (Name) French masculine given names Scottish given names English-language unisex given names English masculine given names English feminine given names

People

Fictional characters

In names for Santa Claus

See also

References