Noah - Origin and Meaning of the name

The boy name Noah [ 2 syll. noa(h), no-ah ] is also used as a girl name, but it is much more common for boys. Its pronunciation is NOWah ^KEY. Noah is an English and German name of Hebrew origin. Noah has the meaning rest, comfort, long-lived. Biblical name derived from the elements 'noach' meaning to rest ; 'nacham' meaning to comfort. Noach (Hebrew) is an original form of Noah. The name is of uncertain origin; it could be of the element 'noach' or 'nacham'. It was borne in the Bible by the builder of the Ark during the great Flood sent by God to destroy humankind for their wicked ways; the biblical meaning is 'rest' or 'comfort'. The name was first adopted by English Puritans in the 17th century. See Noah for more info.

Noa (English), Noe (English), Noé (French), and Noë (French) are variants of Noah.

Noah is very popular as a baby name for boys, and it is also considered trendy. The name's popularity has been growing since the 1960s. Its usage peaked recently in 2007 with 0.751% of baby boys being given the name Noah. Its ranking then was #14. Among all boy names in its group, Noah was the most popular in 2007. Noah was more frequently used than the subsequent ranked name, Noe (English), by 26 times in that year.

Baby names that sound like Noah include Noa (English), Na'im (Arabic), Nahum (English, German, and Hebrew), Naim (Arabic), Naomhan (Irish), Naomhán (Irish), Nemo (English, German, and Italian), Neo (English and Italian), Nino (Italian), Numa (Italian), Nuno (Portuguese), Nuño (Spanish), Naum (German, Russian, and Slavic), Nenne (Scandinavian), Nisse (Scandinavian), Noam (English and Hebrew), Noe (English), Noé (French), and Noë (French).

^KEY: Pronunciation for Noah: N as in "knee (N.IY)" ; OW as in "oat (OW.T)" ; AH as in "hut (HH.AH.T)"

A famous person named Noah is Noah Wyle, Actor, born 4 June 1971, Hollywood, California.

Popularity Trend
for Noah
from 1900 to 2007

Variant Popularity Chart
for Noah
in 2007