Noam
Masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "pleasantness" or "pleasantry".
Name Census estimates that about 2,932 living Americans carry the first name Noam. It is a predominantly male name (92.1% of registrations). The average person named Noam today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Noam births was 2015 (126 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Noam. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Noam with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.9K
~ 1 in 116,901 Americans
Peak year
2015
126 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,447
Tracked since 1961
Census
Noam in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,502 people with the first name Noam, which placed it at #6,423 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#6,423
National first-name rank
People counted
2.5K
2,502 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
89.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Noam
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Noam is White at 89.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.6%) and Two or More Races (2.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Noam described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Noam at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.2% · 2,231
- Hispanic or Latino5.6% · 141
- Two or more races2.5% · 62
- Black or African American1.5% · 37
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 31
Gender
Gender distribution for Noam
Noam leans heavily male at 92.1% of total registrations, but 236 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Noam as a male name
- Ranked #1,447 in 2024
- 125 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (125 births)
Noam as a female name
- Ranked #11,891 in 2021
- 8 female births in 2021
- Peak: 2007 (14 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Noam leans strongly male. 2,286 people counted with this name were male (91.2%), compared with 220 female bearers (8.8%).
Popularity
Noam: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Noam from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,056 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Noam remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Noam 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 Noam during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Noams live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. New York, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Noam, while Ohio, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 158 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Noam
The name Noam is a Hebrew name derived from the Biblical Hebrew word "no'am," which means "pleasantness" or "delightfulness." It is a name that has been in use for centuries, with its origins traced back to ancient Israel.
The name Noam first appeared in the Hebrew Bible, specifically in the Book of Proverbs, where it is used to describe the quality of wisdom and understanding. This association with wisdom and pleasantness has likely contributed to the name's enduring popularity among the Jewish community.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Noam comes from the 12th century, when a prominent Jewish scholar and philosopher named Noam ben Yitzhak lived in Spain. He was known for his contributions to the fields of astronomy and mathematics.
In the 20th century, the name Noam gained increased recognition due to the renowned linguist and political activist Noam Chomsky, who was born in 1928 in Philadelphia, United States. Chomsky is widely considered one of the most influential intellectuals of our time, known for his groundbreaking work in linguistics and his critiques of U.S. foreign policy.
Another notable figure with the name Noam is Noam Murro, an Israeli-American film director and screenwriter born in 1960. Murro has directed several successful films, including the 2014 action thriller "300: Rise of an Empire."
In the realm of music, Noam Banai is a celebrated Israeli singer-songwriter and guitarist born in 1985. He has released several acclaimed albums and is known for his unique blend of rock, folk, and world music influences.
Noam Shalev is an Israeli novelist and screenwriter born in 1972. He has written several bestselling novels and has also contributed to various television shows and films, showcasing his talent for storytelling.
Throughout history, the name Noam has been associated with wisdom, pleasantness, and intellectual pursuits. Its Hebrew origins and biblical references have contributed to its enduring popularity, particularly within the Jewish community, while its bearers have made their mark across various fields, from academia and activism to the arts and literature.
People
Noam + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Noam 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
Noam: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Noam?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,932 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Noam 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 116,901 US residents.
Is Noam a common name?
We classify Noam as "Rare". It ranks above 95.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,983 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Noam most popular?
The single biggest year for Noam was 2015, when 126 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Noam is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Noam in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,502 people with the name Noam, or 0.83 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,423 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Noam in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Noam?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Noam leans strongly male. 2,286 people counted with this name were male (91.2%), compared with 220 female bearers (8.8%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Noam?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Noam is White at 89.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.6%) and Two or More Races (2.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Noam most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Noam in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.2% (2,231 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Noam in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Noam a male name?
Yes, 92.1% of people registered as Noam in the SSA data are male. 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.
Is Noam still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Noam in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Noam can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How common is the name Noam?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Noam at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.