Yolanda
Feminine · “a form of Violante”
Yolanda is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 112,918 girls against 537 boys since 1880. See Yolanda as a boy name
Yolanda is a Spanish name with a royal past, familiar to American families for generations. It has been carried in our time by a gospel star, and, in the Philippines, by a storm so terrible that the name was retired.
How old is the name Yolanda?
Yolanda first appears in US birth records in 1901 — 124 years ago. The typical Yolanda alive today was born around 1967, making them about 58 years old. About 93,500 people named Yolanda are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Yolanda most popular?
Yolanda peaked in 1972, reaching #89 nationally. Today it ranks #3211, 3,122 places below that high. See the whole 1972 chart.
Yolanda appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From Violante to Yolanda
The story of Yolanda
Yolanda Adams, a former schoolteacher from Houston, became one of the best-selling gospel singers of her generation and carried gospel into mainstream radio with her own nationally syndicated show. The name also has a sadder modern life: in the Philippines, which gives typhoons local names, the great storm known elsewhere as Haiyan was called Yolanda, and after the devastation it caused the name was taken off the list for good. In America the name is recorded for a very few boys, but it is a woman's name everywhere.
Meaningscholars disagree
a form of Violante, often read as violet
Yolanda comes through Yolande from the medieval Violante; the link to Latin viola, violet, is a traditional guess rather than a proven origin.
How the name formed
- Violante
- Yolande
- Yolanda
Related forms: Yolande · Yolanda · Iolanda · Violant
Pronouncing Yolanda
yoh-LAHN-duh
Stress on the middle syllable.
Nicknames for Yolanda
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
- 1901
- Most girls named
- 19693,771 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #89reached in 1972
- Change vs 2022
- −9.3%49 in 2025, from 54
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.
Yolanda in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Yolande in French — same name
- Yolanda in Spanish — same name
- Iolanda in Italian — same name
- Violant in Catalan — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Yolandas among us
people named Yolanda are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 32,801 born in 2025 was named Yolanda
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 Maureen test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Yolanda's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Maureen climbed just as high around 1948, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Maureen's path sketches the road Yolanda is walking now.
Yolanda 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
Where Yolanda is headed
Yolanda should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium 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.
Yolanda beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Yolanda in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It has a long, royal history.
- Yoli is a warm short form.
- It works in Spanish and English.
- Filipino families will remember the typhoon.
- Many associate it with an older generation of women.
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What they receive
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Yolanda
Feminine · #3211 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Yolandas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 93,500 people named Yolanda are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Yolanda in 2025?
- Yolanda ranks #3211 among US girl names in 2025, with 49 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Yolanda?
- About 1 in every 32,801 US girls born in 2025 was named Yolanda — 49 in all.
- Will my child share the name Yolanda with classmates?
- Yolanda will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Yolanda
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Kristine#3211 · Jalaya#3211 · Gladys#3211 · Amyah#3211 · Dhara#3211 · Janelly#3211 · Dariela#3211 · Quetzalli#3211
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Yolanda? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Yolanda and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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