"noise" = reputation, fame, in 1786; postdating --1556

[Joel S. Berson]

      NOISE
The love of noise, though a passion observable in all times and
countries, has been so predominant of late years, and give rise to so
many modern customs, that it is by no means unworthy of an author's attention.
      In many instances this passion is subordinate to, and proceeds
from another, which is not less universal, and no less commendable; I
mean the love of fame. Noise, or sound, generally has been considered
as a means whereby thousands have rendered themselves famous in their
generation, and this is the reason, why to be famous, and to make a
noise in the world, are commonly understood as equivalent expressions.

[Almost as definitive as a dictionary?]

Pennsylvania Packet [Philadelphia], Aug. 21, 1786, page 3, col. 3.  EAN.

"noise" noun, sense 6.b., postdates OED3 (Dec. 2003) --1556.   I
suggest "The love of noise" fits this sense, separately from the "to
make a noise", which has persisted into the 20th century (sense 6.c.).

Joel

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