Joella Gipson-Simpson (1929 – 2012) was an American musician, mathematician, and educator. She was the first African American student at Mount St. Mary's College in Los Angeles.
My name is also Joella, I've never liked it. I was born in 1957 when all the other girls got normal names. I suppose it didn't help me any to be the new kid in school and have an unusual name. I use my middle name now unless I'm legally required to use my first.
My name is Joella too! I pronounce it like Jo Ella even though it is spelled as one word. I find that spelling it as one word is the most unusual. I'm over 50 and always considered my name kind of old fashioned. I also don't have a middle name, which makes my first name more special. I certainly don't think it is a trashy name. Some nicknames I am called are; Jo, Joey, JoJo, and Ell. Nice to see there are other Joella's out there.
We named our daughter Joella (now 13 years ago) as i) my wife knew a woman with this unusual name and ii) I am a Steely Dan fan and hoped her nickname would be "Josie". She didn't turn out to be a "Josie", though, and uses nicknames "Jo" and "JoJo" but these are cool as well (especially if you are more of a Boz Scaggs fan). So we are very happy with the name that is very unusual with flexible nicknames but not weird, which is hard to come by.I really can't believe how incredibly rare this name is, but I consider it a huge bonus!
I love the name, Joella. It's different and easy to say, and it is my name. I also consider it famous! There was a woman named Joella back about the time of the civil war, who helped to free slaves. I'd tell you her last name but it actually is the same as mine! If you knew it you could google it and see, I'm telling the truth!