Olan
Masculine
Olan has at least two respectable ancestries and no way to choose between them. Saint Olan was a sixth-century Irish holy man of County Cork with a holy well still visited; Olan is also a plausible American form of the Scandinavian Olav. Its American peak is 1908, which fits either.
How old is the name Olan?
Olan first appears in US birth records in 1895 — 130 years ago. The typical Olan alive today was born around 1941, making them about 84 years old. About 1,200 people named Olan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Olan most popular?
Olan peaked in 1908, reaching #712 nationally. Today it ranks #6143, 5,431 places below that high. See the whole 1908 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Eolang to Olan
Our story of Olan
Saint Olan's well at Aghabulloge is one of the better-preserved holy wells of Munster, and the tradition around it is worth recording. A pillar stone stands nearby, called Olan's Cap, and it was long held that a woman in labor who wore the cap would be protected — a practice the local clergy eventually tried to suppress, with limited success. Holy wells and their attached stones are among the oldest continuously used religious sites in Ireland, and many of them predate Christianity by a considerable margin; the saints attached to them are frequently local figures about whom almost nothing is known beyond a name and a place. Olan is one of those. A name with no recoverable etymology can still have a very specific address.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Not established. The Irish Olan or Eolang is an old personal name of uncertain derivation, borne by a saint of Aghabulloge in County Cork. The Scandinavian route runs through Olav, Old Norse Anleifr — anu, 'ancestor', and leifr, 'descendant, heir' — which is settled but which does not obviously produce this spelling. A third possibility is that the name is a nineteenth-century American formation on the -an ending, which the period produced in quantity.
How the name formed
- Eolang
- Olan
Related forms: Eolang · Olav
Pronouncing Olan
OH-lun
Two syllables, stress on the first, with a long o and the ending reduced. A second saying, oh-LAN with end stress, is also heard. Both circulate in American use.
Nicknames for Olan
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
- 1895
- Most boys named
- 191958 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #712reached in 1908
- Change vs 2023
- −53.3%14 in 2025, from 30
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.
Olan in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Eolang in Irish — related form
- Olav in Norwegian — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas.
Olans among us
people named Olan are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 122,005 born in 2025 was named Olan
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
Olan 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
Olan beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Olan in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It is short, distinctive and immediately spellable after one hearing.
- It has a documented Irish saint and a holy well to point to.
- The spelling is phonetic and needs no accents.
- Two stress patterns circulate and the spelling does not settle which.
- The origin is genuinely unresolved, so there is no meaning to give.
- It is easily heard as Alan, Olen or Nolan.
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Olan
Masculine · #6143 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Olans are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,200 people named Olan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Olan in 2025?
- Olan ranks #6143 among US boy names in 2025, with 14 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Olan?
- About 1 in every 122,005 US boys born in 2025 was named Olan — 14 in all.
- Will my child share the name Olan with classmates?
- Olan will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Olan
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ruel#6143 · Cornell#6143 · Vasco#6143 · Kemper#6143 · Yates#6143 · Roark#6143 · Raja#6143 · Orville#6143
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Olan? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Olan and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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