Yola
Feminine
Yola is a short girl's name, most likely Yolanda cut to two syllables. The same word was the name of a lost language of Ireland, the English of medieval settlers in Wexford, in which yola meant old.
How old is the name Yola?
Yola first appears in US birth records in 1900 — 125 years ago. The typical Yola alive today was born around 1924, making them about 101 years old. Fewer than a hundred people named Yola are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
When was the name Yola most popular?
Yola peaked in 1915, reaching #1231 nationally. See the whole 1915 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Yola
In two baronies of County Wexford, Forth and Bargy, the descendants of settlers who came with the Normans kept speaking their own medieval English for centuries after the rest of Ireland had moved on; they called it Yola, their word for 'old', and it died out in the nineteenth century, leaving word lists and a few songs. Yola, the American name, most likely came from Yolanda. But it shares its letters with a language that held on for a very long time.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Yola may be Yolanda shortened or a name of its own, and nothing records which.
Pronouncing Yola
YOH-luh
Two syllables with the stress on the first.
Nicknames for Yola
Limited
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
- 1900
- Most girls named
- 191532 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1231reached in 1915
- Change vs 1980
- +20.0%6 in 1983, from 5
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.
Yolas among us
Fewer than a hundred people named Yola are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Yola sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Short and bright.
- Almost certain to be the only one.
- Easy to spell.
- People will assume it is short for Yolanda.
- It reads as a name of a much earlier generation.
- It has no documented meaning of its own.
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Yola
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Yolas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. Fewer than a hundred people named Yola are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
- How popular is the name Yola in 2025?
- Yola is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Yola with classmates?
- Yola will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More Y names
The most-given names starting with Y, all years combined.
Yvonne#2051 · Yolanda#3211 · Yvette#1622 · Yesenia#1896 · Yasmin#955 · Yasmine#1183 · Yaretzi#670 · Yadira#3832
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Yola? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Yola and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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