Noa

Hebrew

"motion"

Noa Origin and Meaning

The name Noa is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "motion".

This Old Testament female name has been one of the most popular girls’ names in Israel over the last decade. Also highly popular in Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands, and a new entrant to the US Top 1000, it may be misunderstood here as an attempt to streamline and feminize the more familiar Noah – although it's a separate name with a separate derivation.

Now for the confusing bit...

There is a female figure in the Old Testament named Noa or Noah, whose name derives from the Hebrew No'ah, meaning "motion". The popular Biblical male name Noah (sometimes spelled as the streamlined Noa) is derived from a different Hebrew name: Noach "rest, repose" – although confusingly they are often written the same in English.

Noa is the modern Hebrew spelling of the female name, but it is also found as a variant spelling of the male name Noah – popular in countries including France, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Complex backstory notwithstanding, Noa's rise to the charts indicates increased interest in this sleek moniker.

Noa Popularity

• 298 US 2022
• 215 Nameberry 2024
• 62 Unisex 2022
• 505 Future 2028
• 265 England 2021
• 42 Netherlands 2023
• 21 Spain 2022
• 52 Portugal 2020
• 194 Switzerland 2020
• 4 Israel 2020
• 173 Canada 2022