Noël/Noelle/Noel

[Anonymous]

Which is the female version? And which is the male, or can they go either way?
Do you (or someone you know) use and enforce the ë? Is that an issue?

[Anonymous]

I would not name a boy Noel. Noelle for female.

[Anonymous]

No dots please.

There is no reason to put unnecessary punctuation in a first name.

[Anonymous]

Noel for a boy, Noelle for a girl. Although I know someone who used Noel for a girl - I think it is weird.

[Anonymous]

I had a Noelle in on of the classes I've taught. She said everyone calls her Nicole.

[Anonymous]

I know an adult male named Noel (rhymes with Joel, mole, bowl, etc). People see his name and mistake him, sight unseen, for a woman all the time. Agree with the no dots--unless you live in a country which uses that alphabet, it's unnecessary for pronunciation. And most people, including me, would have no idea how the ë changes how you pronounce it.

[Anonymous]

Normally Noel is male and Noelle is female. I do know a female Noël. Officially her name is spelled with the umlaut because her father is French American. She doesn't use it much in everyday usage, It's kind of like having a full name and using a nickname in daily usage. She only uses it when she needs to use her formal name.

[Anonymous]

Yes, no umlaut please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, no umlaut please.

(It's not an umlaut, it's a diaeresis. An umlaut changes the sound of the letter; a diaeresis says that you're supposed to pronounce the letter separately (i.e., like No-el, instead of like Knoll).)

[Anonymous]

I know it as male=Noel and female=Noelle. I know one guy Noel pronounced noELL and one pronounced NOul.

[Anonymous]

I'd only use this name for the female Noelle. Not a great male name, as others have pointed out there become a lot of pronunciation and gender questions.

[Anonymous]

I like the international flair of the dots.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I like the international flair of the dots.

Of course you do

[Anonymous]

Noel is male (generally one syllable when used as a male name in English speaking countries), Noelle female (two syllables, like the French pronunciation). Noël is French (masculine) and best left to those who know what they're doing. Along with Noëlle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, no umlaut please.

(It's not an umlaut, it's a diaeresis. An umlaut changes the sound of the letter; a diaeresis says that you're supposed to pronounce the letter separately (i.e., like No-el, instead of like Knoll).)

OMG thank you! I always wondered why some places (the New Yorker of course) put the dots over things like Cooperation. And the umlaut never made sense.