Given name & surname
Nowell
“born at Christmastime”
Nowell is a variant of Noel. One French interpretation is “born at Christmastime.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
Nowell is a variant of Noel. One French interpretation is “born at Christmastime.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
Nowell is a variant of Noel. An origin associated with Noel is French.
Explained through its name family
How it developed
From Middle English Nowel, from Old French noel.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1927. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Nowell through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 167
- 167 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1969
- 10 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 5 in 2022. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 382 as a first name in 2020; 5,578 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Nowell’s family of names
Nowell has a related form in Noel. In English usage, Nowell as a surname continues an earlier form in Nowel.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 1
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
Similar names
If you love Nowell, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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“the champion”
>99% boys