How rare is the name Nola?

12,273 people in the United States have the first name Nola, about 1 in 24,609. It ranks #2,167 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

NOLA

#2,167

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
12,273
About
1 in 24,609
This common or more
78.8%
Who bears it

Of the 12,273 people named Nola, 76.3% reported their origin as White, 10.1% as Black and 5.9% as two or more races. 99.3% are female. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Nola peaked in 2020, when 537 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
2020
Births that year
537
In 2025*
331 ▼38%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 26,271 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Nola by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1900s, when it ranked #441. The largest share of babies named Nola, 24.2%, were born between 1901 and 1927, the Greatest Generation's birth years.

1880s#564424
1890s#449929
1900s#4411,334
1910s#6142,630
1920s#6993,172
1930s#6783,001
1940s#8762,475
1950s#1,1102,183
1960s#1,6921,130
1970s#2,905516
1980s#3,839422
1990s#5,970305
2000s#2,5501,461
2010s#1,4313,696
2020s#1,2942,593
Before 19015.6%
Greatest Generation 1901–2724.2%
Silent Generation 1928–4519.9%
Baby boom 1946–6414.5%
Generation X 1965–803.6%
Millennials 1981–962.2%
Generation Z 1997–129.5%
2013 and later20.4%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Nola is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Nola has been most common in Kentucky (3.4×), Tennessee (2.8×), and Idaho (2.7×), and least common in Connecticut (0.34×).

18,533 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Nola

#2,165 Jun · 12,305#2,166 Jena · 12,289#2,168 Kendal · 12,270#2,169 Deshawn · 12,256

Spelled almost the same

5 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Nola, most common first.

#19,075 Noela · 560#20,564 Noli · 501#27,069 Nole · 340#35,789 Nolia · 224#44,078 Noly · 158

Also a last name

As a last name, Nola ranks #38,883 of 156,621, with 612 people. See Nola as a last name

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