Christmas is celebrated by many people outside of the
Christian religion, so I'd say this is the one exception of religious-connected names.
I love
Noelle, I prefer it
Noëlle though just because it further reflects the
German decorations I've come to know.
In terms of gender, I think
Noël works well on both boys and girls, but prefer
Noëlle for girls.
I don't like
Noel (nohl) so even for the boys I prefer
Noël to, at least to, just emphasise the no-elle pronunciation