Lola
Feminine · “short form of Dolores”
Lola is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 96,892 girls against 275 boys since 1880.
Lola began life as an affectionate Spanish shortening of Dolores — the kind of name a family uses at the table rather than at a baptism — and it has been standing on its own in English for well over a century. Two open syllables, both stressed the same way in every language that has borrowed it, and no silent letters to explain. It has been sung about on Broadway in "Damn Yankees" and by the Kinks, and it charts today in France and in England & Wales as comfortably as in the States.
How old is the name Lola?
Lola was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Lola alive today was born around 1939, making them about 86 years old. About 46,500 people named Lola are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Lola most popular?
Lola peaked in 1904, reaching #99 nationally. Today it ranks #275, 176 places below that high. See the whole 1904 chart.
Lola appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From María de los Dolores to Lola
The story of Lola
The name grew out of Spanish Catholic devotion: girls were named María de los Dolores for the Virgin's Sorrows, and Dolores was clipped in family speech to Lola, with Lolita as a further step down. By the nineteenth century Lola was circulating well beyond Spanish-speaking households, carried by stage performers and travelers into English, French and German use. It reached the American charts early and has never left them, sitting through the whole span from the Edwardian era to now. In France it took hold strongly again in recent decades, and it charts in England & Wales too, so the same spelling works in three languages without adjustment.
Meaning
short form of Dolores, "sorrows"
Dolores comes from the Spanish title María de los Dolores, Mary of the Sorrows, referring to the Virgin's Seven Sorrows. Lola is the household diminutive of that name; the sorrowful sense belongs to the devotional title, not to everyday use of Lola.
How the name formed
- María de los Dolores
- Dolores
- Lola
- Lolita
Related forms: Lola · Lola · Dolores · Lolita · Loli · Addolorata
Pronouncing Lola
LOH-luh
Stress on the first syllable. In Spanish and French both vowels are fuller: LOH-lah. Spelling almost never needs to be repeated.
Nicknames for Lola
High
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
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 19181,567 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #99reached in 1904
- Change vs 2022
- −5.8%1,132 in 2025, from 1,202
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.
Lola in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Lola in Spanish — same name
- Lola in French — same name
- Dolores in Spanish — related form
- Lolita in Spanish — related form
- Loli in Spanish — related form
- Addolorata in Italian — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida. INSEE rounds every published count to the nearest five for statistical confidentiality; the ranks are calculated from the exact figures. International figures from INSEE, Office for National Statistics. Sources
Lolas among us
people named Lola are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 1,420 born in 2025 was named Lola
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Lola peaked long ago yet still holds steady — names that survive their own wave usually settle into quiet, durable classics.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Lola is headed
Lola should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Lola beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Lola in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Four letters, one obvious spelling, and it is read correctly on sight by English, Spanish and French speakers alike.
- An unbroken record in American use stretching back well over a century, so it reads as inherited rather than newly coined.
- Also charts in France and in England & Wales, which makes it travel well.
- Comes with a formal long form, Dolores, if a fuller name on documents appeals.
- Rhythmically clear beside most surnames, and short enough to survive being shouted across a playground.
- In Tagalog, lola means grandmother — a warm word, but if your family or community is Filipino, expect that double meaning to come up often.
- The traditional diminutive Lolita now carries the association with Nabokov's novel in English, which is worth knowing before it arrives from someone else's mouth.
- It is already a nickname, so there is not much left to shorten. Some parents like the finality of that; others miss having a longer version to grow into.
- The devotional root means "sorrows." It refers to the Virgin Mary's Seven Sorrows rather than to anything about a person, but it is the kind of fact a relative may look up and mention.
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What they receive
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Lola
Feminine · #275 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Lolas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 46,500 people named Lola are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Lola in 2025?
- Lola ranks #275 among US girl names in 2025, with 1,132 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Lola?
- About 1 in every 1,420 US girls born in 2025 was named Lola — 1,132 in all.
- Will my child share the name Lola with classmates?
- Lola will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Lola
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Juliet#274 · Harmony#276 · Luciana#273 · Lilith#277 · Azalea#278 · Khloe#272 · Lena#279 · Nayeli#270
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Lola? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration; international figures from national statistics agencies. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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