Girls' name · peaked in 1894

Nola name popularity since 1925

19,357 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Nola. Half of them were born in 1962 or earlier, so the typical Nola is about 64 years old in 2026. Nola peaked in 1894 as the #254 name for girls, and it ranked #822 in 2025.

US babies since 1925: 19,357; Named Nola, 1925–2025
Peak year: 1894; #254 for girls that year
Typical age: About 64; Median birth year 1962
In 2025: #822; for girls in 2025 (331 babies)
Girls / boys: 100.0% girls; 19,348 girls · 9 boys
Most popular in: Kentucky; 2.69× its national share

Peak year is the year Nola made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.

Nola births per year, 1925–2025

The biggest year on this chart was 2020. Measured as a share of all babies, Nola peaked earlier, in 1894.

Steepest fall: Between 1953 and 1958, Nola's share of baby girls fell by 47%, from 1 in 7,380 to 1 in 14,000.
Fastest rise: Between 2005 and 2010, it became 3.1× more common, from 1 in 17,800 baby girls to 1 in 5,660.

Shaded on the chart. Both compare Nola's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Nola.

Decade by decade

Babies named Nola in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).

Decade	Girls	Boys	Rank
1925–29	1,566	9	–
1930s	3,001	0	#375
1940s	2,475	0	#473
1950s	2,183	0	#671
1960s	1,130	0	#1,094
1970s	516	0	#2,153
1980s	422	0	#2,784
1990s	305	0	#3,747
2000s	1,461	0	#1,872
2010s	3,696	0	#770
2020–25	2,593	0	#822

Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.

Generation fingerprint

27.6% of babies named Nola from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Gen Alpha years (2013–2025). The full split by generation:

Where Nola is most popular

The index compares Nola's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Nola.

State	Index	Babies
Kentucky	2.69×	676
Tennessee	2.33×	736
Louisiana	2.10×	566
Oklahoma	1.70×	333
Missouri	1.61×	527

Names with a similar story

Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Nola's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Nola.

Names from the same era

Other common names that peaked within two years of Nola (1894).

Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data