Nola
A girls’ name with no widely documented etymology — two syllables, given to 165 babies a year in England and Wales.
How Nola has moved
View as table
| Year | US rank |
|---|---|
| 2015 | #769 |
| 2016 | #818 |
| 2017 | #744 |
| 2018 | #643 |
| 2019 | #606 |
| 2020 | #553 |
| 2021 | #595 |
| 2022 | #630 |
| 2023 | #739 |
| 2024 | #766 |
| 2025 | #822 |
Nola by the numbers
In 2025, 165 babies in England and Wales were named Nola. In the US, 374 were, though that figure is from 2017, the most recent full year we hold.
For the size of the two countries, it is given noticeably more often in England and Wales than in the US.
Its American peak was 390 babies in 1918, making it a 1910s name.
At its height, in 1895, about 1 in 2,200 American girls born that year was called Nola.
What we can tell you about Nola
Not every name has a meaning to trace. Plenty are coined rather than inherited — invented outright, blended from two names, or respelled from an older one — and where we cannot find an etymology we can stand behind, we would rather say so than make one up. What follows comes from the birth records themselves.
Spelled almost the same
Other names in the records within a letter or two of Nola. Close spellings are not always related names, but they are usually worth seeing together.
- Norahonour, light6,036 in the US (2017)
- Novanew; a brightening star650 in England and Wales (2025)
- Noamotion, movement205 in England and Wales (2025)
- Nalasuccessful, graceful66 in England and Wales (2025)
- Niladark blue; indigo64 in England and Wales (2025)
- Nelabright light; a diminutive form of Helen45 in England and Wales (2025)
Sounds like Nola
Names that are said the same way as Nola, however they are written. Sounding alike does not mean they share a history.
- Nolah15 in the US (2017)
Names about as common as Nola
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