Jolina
Feminine · “Hebrew Yochanan”
Jo is one of very few clips in English that serves both sexes. It stands for Joseph and Joshua, and for Joanna, Josephine and Joan, and it has done so for centuries. Louisa May Alcott made it permanently female for most American readers by giving it to the second March sister in 1868.
How old is the name Jolina?
Jolina first appears in US birth records in 1970 — 55 years ago. The typical Jolina alive today was born around 2007, making them about 18 years old. About 800 people named Jolina are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Jolina most popular?
Jolina peaked in 2007, reaching #3482 nationally. Today it ranks #8860, 5,378 places below that high. See the whole 2007 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Josephine to Jolina
The story of Jolina
Little Women appeared in 1868 and 1869 and its second sister, Josephine March, insists on Jo throughout, refuses to be called Josephine, and complains about having to behave like a young lady. The character is closely modeled on Alcott herself and the book was read by essentially every literate American girl for the following century. That did two things to the name. It fixed Jo as female in American use, despite its continuing service for Joseph, and it attached to it a specific set of associations: writing, impatience with convention, and short hair. Alcott's Jo is one of the small number of fictional characters who changed how a name is heard, alongside Wendy, who did not exist before Barrie, and Madison, who did not exist as a girl's name before 1984.
Meaningscholars disagree
Hebrew Yochanan, God is gracious
Jolina joins the Jo stem to the -lina ending. Jo serves several names: Joanna and Joan, from Hebrew Yochanan, Yah is gracious; Josephine, from Yosef, may Yah add; and for men Joseph and Joshua. Lina is a clip of Carolina, Angelina or Magdalena. The compound is American and carries no single meaning. It peaks in 2007.
How the name formed
- Josephine
- Jo
- Jolina
Related forms: Joleen · Jolina
Pronouncing Jolina
joh-LEE-nah
Three syllables, stress on the second. Jolina, Joleena and Jolena are near-homophones. German uses the same spelling and says yoh-LEE-nah with a y.
Nicknames for Jolina
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1970
- Most girls named
- 200747 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3482reached in 2007
- Change vs 2024
- −21.4%11 in 2025, from 14
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Jolina in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Joleen in English — related form
- Jolina in German — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California.
Jolinas among us
people named Jolina are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 146,115 born in 2025 was named Jolina
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Sharlette test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Jolina's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Sharlette climbed just as high around 1951, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Sharlette's path sketches the road Jolina is walking now.
Jolina sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Jolina beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Jolina in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Jo and Lina are two complete names as short forms.
- The rhythm is even and easy to say.
- It works in English and German alike.
- Jolene and Jolena are both more common.
- The compound has no single meaning.
- German and English read the initial letter differently.
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What they receive
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Jolina
Feminine · #8860 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Jolinas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 800 people named Jolina are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Jolina in 2025?
- Jolina ranks #8860 among US girl names in 2025, with 11 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Jolina?
- About 1 in every 146,115 US girls born in 2025 was named Jolina — 11 in all.
- Will my child share the name Jolina with classmates?
- Jolina will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Jolina
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Lida#8860 · Lauretta#8860 · Dot#8860 · Bonita#8860 · Benita#8860 · Trixie#8860 · Adna#8860 · Sue#8860
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Jolina? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Jolina and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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