Nolan
Feminine · “descendant of the famous one”
Nolan is given to boys far more often — 135,505 boys against 556 girls since 1880. See Nolan as a boy name
Nolan is an Irish surname built on a word about chariots and fame, and it belonged to a family who were hereditary inaugurators of kings. Its use on American girls peaks in 1911, a century before its much larger modern career on boys, and it belongs to the era when family surnames went to daughters as readily as to sons.
How old is the name Nolan?
Nolan first appears in US birth records in 1911 — 114 years ago. The typical Nolan is a kid of about 9 — this name's wave is very recent. About 500 people named Nolan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Nolan most popular?
Nolan peaked in 1911, reaching #2463 nationally. Today it ranks #6116, 3,653 places below that high. See the whole 1911 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From nuall to Nolan
The story of Nolan
The O Nuallains were chiefs of Fotharta in what is now County Carlow, and their hereditary function was to place the rod of kingship in the hand of a new king of Leinster. The surname anglicized as Nolan and Nowlan and traveled to America in very large numbers with nineteenth-century Irish emigration. Its use as a given name is twentieth-century; the girls' use peaks in 1911 with the general surname-name fashion of that period, and the much larger boys' career belongs to the 1990s onwards, when Nolan entered the American top hundred.
Meaningscholars disagree
descendant of the famous one; the champion
Irish O Nuallain is built on nuall, a word meaning a shout, a cry or a proclamation, with a diminutive ending. The standard reading takes it as 'famous' or 'noble' by extension from being proclaimed; an older gloss makes it 'chariot-fighter' or 'champion'. The first is now preferred. The O Nuallains of Carlow held the hereditary right to inaugurate the kings of Leinster, which fits the sense of proclamation rather neatly.
How the name formed
- nuall
- O Nuallain
- Nolan
Related forms: O Nuallain · Nowlan
Pronouncing Nolan
NOH-lun
Two syllables, stress on the first, with the ending reduced to a schwa. There is no competing saying, and the spelling gives English readers no difficulty.
Nicknames for Nolan
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
- 1911
- Most girls named
- 201936 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2463reached in 1911
- Change vs 2024
- −34.5%19 in 2025, from 29
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.
Nolan in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- O Nuallain in Irish — related form
- Nowlan in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, North Carolina.
Nolans among us
people named Nolan are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 84,593 born in 2025 was named Nolan
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
Nolan 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
Nolan beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Nolan in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Nola is a complete name available as a softer alternative.
- The Irish surname behind it has a genuinely interesting documented function.
- The pronunciation is obvious on sight.
- In current use it is overwhelmingly male and will be read that way.
- It is easily heard as Nola, Dolan or Rowan.
- Its American curve on girls is early-twentieth-century, which places a bearer's generation.
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What they receive
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Nolan
Feminine · #6116 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Nolans are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Nolan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Nolan in 2025?
- Nolan ranks #6116 among US girl names in 2025, with 19 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Nolan?
- About 1 in every 84,593 US girls born in 2025 was named Nolan — 19 in all.
- Will my child share the name Nolan with classmates?
- Nolan will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Nolan
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Alvina#6116 · Mena#6116 · Harvey#6116 · Kellie#6116 · Alden#6116 · Jeanna#6116 · Sammi#6116 · Mamie#6116
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Nolan? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Nolan and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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