Explore the Family Name Noe

The meaning of Noe

1. German, Dutch, and English (London); French and Spanish (Noé); Catalan (Noè): from the Biblical personal name Noach ‘Noah’, which means ‘comfort’ in Hebrew. According to the Book of Genesis, Noah, having been forewarned by God, built an ark into which he took his family and representatives of every species of animal, and so was saved from the flood that God sent to destroy the world because of human wickedness. The personal name was not common among non-Jews in the Middle Ages, but the Biblical story was an extremely popular subject for miracle plays. In many cases, therefore, the surname probably derives from a nickname referring to someone who had played the part of Noah in a miracle play or pageant, rather than from a personal name. The usual English form of the surname is Noy. 2. French (Noë): habitational name from La Noë, the name of several places in the northern part of France, derived from the Gaulish word nauda ‘water meadow, boggy place’; it is a cognate of Noue (see Lanoue) and, in North America, possibly also an altered form of this. 3. French (Noé): variant of Noël (see Noel). 4. French (Noé): habitational name from any of several places so named, ultimately from Latin nucarius ‘walnut tree’. History: The surname Noe of French origin is listed (in the forms Noé and Noë, along with its altered form Niu and possible original form Noue) in the (US) National Huguenot Society’s register of qualified Huguenot ancestors. The Huguenot ancestor was Pierre Noé or Noë or Noue, who arrived in New Amsterdam in New Netherland (now New York City, NY) aboard the Dutch ship Bontekoe (‘Brindled Cow’) in 1663; in the passenger list he is listed as Pierre Niu.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Noe in the United States?

The surname Noe ranked 3,080 in terms of popularity in the United States as per the Decennial U.S. Census data from 2000. Ten years later, in 2010, it shifted down slightly to rank 3,229, marking a decrease of 4.84%. However, the count of individuals with this surname increased by 3.64% between 2000 and 2010, rising from 10,789 to 11,182. The proportion of Noes per 100,000 people fell by 5.25%, from 4.0 to 3.79.

20002010Change
Rank#3,080#3,229-4.84%
Count10,78911,1823.64%
Proportion per 100k43.79-5.25%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Noe

Looking at the ethnic identity associated with the Noe surname based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, in 2000, 92.62% identified as White, 3.30% as Hispanic, 1.66% as having two or more races, 1.23% as Asian/Pacific Islander, 0.64% as Black, and 0.55% as American Indian and Alaskan Native. By 2010, there were some shifts in these proportions. The percentage of Noes identifying as White decreased slightly to 90.87%, while those identifying as Hispanic increased to 4.27%. There was also a notable increase in the percentage of Asian/Pacific Islanders to 1.82%, while the proportion identifying with two or more races rose marginally to 1.71%. The percentage of Blacks increased to 0.78%, whereas the proportion of American Indians and Alaskan Natives remained the same.

20002010Change
White92.62%90.87%-1.89%
Hispanic3.3%4.27%29.39%
Asian/Pacific Islander1.23%1.82%47.97%
Two or More Races1.66%1.71%3.01%
Black0.64%0.78%21.87%
American Indian and Alaskan Native0.55%0.55%0%

Noe ancestry composition

23andMe computes an ancestry breakdown for each customer. People may have ancestry from just one population or they may have ancestry from several populations. The most commonly-observed ancestry found in people with the surname Noe is British & Irish, which comprises 51.1% of all ancestry found in people with the surname. The next two most common ancestries are French & German (27.4%) and Eastern European (3.8%). Additional ancestries include Scandinavian, Italian, Spanish & Portuguese, Ashkenazi Jewish, and Indigenous American.

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ANCESTRY BREAKDOWNCOMPOSITION
British & Irish51.1%
French & German27.4%
Eastern European3.8%
Other17.6%
Noe

Possible origins of the surname Noe

Your DNA provides clues about where your recent ancestors may have lived. Having many distant relatives in the same location suggests that you may all share common ancestry there. Locations with many distant relatives can also be places where people have migrated recently, such as large cities. If a large number of individuals who share your surname have distant relatives in a specific area, it could indicate a connection between your surname and that location, stemming from either recent ancestral ties or migration.

Based on 23andMe data, people with last name Noe have recent ancestry locations in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Ireland.

RECENT ANCESTRY LocationPercentage
Greater London, United Kingdom85.70%
Greater Manchester, United Kingdom85.70%
West Yorkshire, United Kingdom85.70%
Merseyside, United Kingdom85.70%
Tyne And Wear, United Kingdom85.70%

What Noe haplogroups can tell you

Haplogroups are genetic population groups that share a common ancestor on either your paternal or maternal line. These paternal and maternal haplogroups shed light on your genetic ancestry and help tell the story of your family.

The top paternal haplogroup of people with the surname Noe is G-Z6885, which is predominantly found among people with European ancestry. Haplogroup G-Z6885 is descended from haplogroup G-M201. Other common haplogroups include R-CTS1843 and R-M405, which are predominantly found among people with European and European ancestry. Other surnames with similar common haplogroups are: Miller, Arnold, Weber, Smith, Becker, Seymour, Muller, Goodman, Schmidt, Freeman.

The most common maternal haplogroups of people with Noe surname are: H1, T2b, H. These most commonly trace back to individuals of European ancestry.

noePaternal Haplogroup Origins G-M201
Paternal Haplo Image

Your paternal lineage may be linked to Ötzi the Iceman

Ötzi the Iceman was discovered in 1991, protruding from a snow-bank high in the Alps near the Austrian-Italian border. His 5,300-year-old remains turned out to be so well preserved that researchers were able to construct a detailed account of his life and death. Chemical analysis of Ötzi's teeth indicates he came from the Italian side of the Alps. He had suffered during the year before his death with whipworm, a stomach parasite that was found in his digestive tract. Yet he was fit enough to climb 6,500 feet in elevation during the day or two before he met his end in a rocky alpine hollow. Ötzi apparently was murdered, struck by a stone arrow point that was found lodged in his left shoulder. The twisted position of his body indicates that the murderer, or one of his accomplices, pulled the arrow's shaft out of Ötzi's prone body.Yet whoever killed Ötzi did not take the valuable and finely wrought copper axe that he carried with him — an indicator that at the age of 45, the Ice Man may have been a figure of some importance in his community. Recently, scientists who were able to extract DNA from Ötzi's remains discovered that he belonged to a paternal lineage that stems from haplogroup G-M201. Today, Ötzi's lineage reaches its highest levels in Sardinia and Corsica, and was once common among early European farmers.

Your maternal lineage may be linked to the nomadic Tuareg of the Sahara

Though haplogroup H1 rarely reaches high frequencies beyond western Europe, over 60% of eastern Tuareg in Libya belong to haplogroup H1. The Tuareg call themselves the Imazghan, meaning “free people.” They are an isolated, semi-nomadic people who inhabit the West-Central Sahara and are known today for a distinctive dark blue turban worn by the men, and for their long history as gatekeepers of the desert.How did women carrying H1 make it all the way from western Europe to this isolated community? They likely migrated from Spain across the Strait of Gibraltar into Morocco after the Last Ice Age, where they were assimilated into the Berbers of the Mediterranean coast. Then, about 5,000 years ago, the Sahara shifted from a period of relative habitable conditions to its dramatically arid desert environment. This shift may have caused migrations throughout the Sahara, prompting the ancient Tuaregs to meet and mingle with the Berbers, bringing H1 lineages into their population.

Maternal Haplo Image

What do people with the surname Noe have in common?

Spoiler alert: it's complicated. People with the same last name are usually no more genetically similar than a randomly sampled group of people from the same population. That said, people with the same surname are more likely to have similar ancestries than randomly sampled individuals. The reason is the tendency of people with similar cultural or geographical backgrounds to preferentially mate with one another. That's why people who share a surname may be more likely to share traits and tendencies in common than people within the general population. Check out the percentages below to see the prevalences of tastes, habits, and traits of people with your surname compared with prevalences among 23andMe users.

Preferences

Noe

Chocolate Ice Cream

Prefers chocolate flavored ice cream over other flavors.

"Noe" Surname 42.1%

23andMe Users 41.3%

Traits

Noe

Misophonia

When sounds made by others, like the sound of chewing or yawning, provoke strong emotional reactions in an individual.

"Noe" Surname 25.3%

23andMe Users 27.9%

Habits

Noe

Sugary Drink

Drinks one or more sugary drinks per day.

"Noe" Surname 28.2%

23andMe Users 21.1%

Wellness

Noe

Migraine

A severe headache characterized by intense pain, sensitivity to light and sound, and often accompanied by nausea and vomiting.

"Noe" Surname 22.5%

23andMe Users 16.4%

Are health conditions linked to the last name Noe?

The short answer is that, if there is an association between surname and health, it's usually more about your ancestry than your name. Individuals with a given surname are no more genetically similar than the general population but often have similar ancestries. The populations of people associated with those shared ancestries often have sets of genetic variations, also known as alleles, in common. Some of those alleles are associated with a greater likelihood of developing certain diseases.

Disease variant frequency by ancestry

Disease allele frequencies in populations associated with the surname Noe are shown below. Important Note: not everyone with a disease allele will develop these health condition

Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Y402H variant

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the most common cause of irreversible vision loss among older adults. The disease results in damage to the central part of the retina (the macula), impairing vision needed for reading, driving, or even recognizing faces. The 23andMe Health + Ancestry DNA test includes the two most common variants associated with an increased risk of developing the condition: the Y402H variant in the CFH gene and the A69S variant in the ARMS2 gene. Learn more about Age-Related Macular Degeneration

British & Irish 62.1%

23andMe Users 57.2%