Adebola
A Yoruba feminine name meaning "the crown or royalty enriches."
Name Census estimates that about 58 living Americans carry the first name Adebola. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 75.0% of registrations being female. The average person named Adebola today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Adebola births was 1978 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Adebola. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Adebola with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Adebola. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
58
~ 1 in 5,909,558 Americans
Peak year
1978
6 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,338
Tracked since 1978
Census
Adebola in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 644 people with the first name Adebola, which placed it at #17,227 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#17,227
National first-name rank
People counted
644
644 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
95.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Adebola
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Adebola is Black at 95.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.9%) and White (1.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Adebola described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Adebola at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American95.7% · 616
- Two or more races1.9% · 12
- White1.1% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 3
- Hispanic or Latino0.3% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Adebola
Adebola is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 60 total registrations, 15 (25.0%) were male and 45 (75.0%) were female.
Adebola as a male name
- Ranked #12,338 in 2024
- 5 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1987 (5 births)
Adebola as a female name
- Ranked #15,947 in 2017
- 5 female births in 2017
- Peak: 1978 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Adebola on both sides of the split. Of the 634 people counted with this name, 249 were male (39.3%) and 385 were female (60.7%).
Popularity
Adebola: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Adebola from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 16 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Adebola remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Adebola by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Adebola during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Adebola
Adebola is a given name of Yoruba origin, one of the largest ethnic groups in Nigeria. It is a combination of two words, "Ade" meaning "crown" or "royalty," and "bola" meaning "to be born into wealth." The name dates back several centuries, originating in the region of present-day southwestern Nigeria.
The earliest recorded use of the name Adebola can be traced back to the 16th century when it was used by members of the Yoruba royal families and nobility. It was often given to children born into wealthy or influential families, signifying their privileged status and the expectation of a prosperous future.
In the 18th century, a notable figure named Adebola Awoloye was a prominent Yoruba trader and diplomat who played a crucial role in facilitating trade relationships between the Yoruba people and European merchants. His influence and reputation contributed to the widespread recognition of the name.
One of the most famous bearers of the name Adebola was Adebola Akano (1916-1992), a Nigerian politician and statesman who served as the Governor of the Western Region of Nigeria from 1960 to 1962. He was a prominent figure during Nigeria's transition to independence and played a significant role in shaping the country's political landscape.
Another historical figure named Adebola was Adebola Ogunbanjo (1920-2005), a Nigerian lawyer and human rights activist who fought against corruption and advocated for democratic reforms in Nigeria during the military regimes of the 20th century. He was widely respected for his principled stance and commitment to justice.
In the realm of literature, Adebola Ogunlesi (1936-1995) was a renowned Nigerian poet and playwright whose works explored themes of identity, tradition, and social commentary. His plays, such as "The Hunters' Saga" and "Odu," gained significant recognition and contributed to the development of Nigerian theatre.
While the name Adebola has its roots in the Yoruba culture, it has gained popularity across Nigeria and among the Nigerian diaspora worldwide, transcending its original cultural boundaries. The name continues to carry the connotation of wealth, nobility, and prosperity, making it a cherished choice for parents seeking to bestow these aspirations upon their children.
People
Adebola + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Adebola as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Adebola: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Adebola?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 58 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Adebola going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 5,909,558 US residents.
Is Adebola a common name?
We classify Adebola as "Very Rare". It ranks above 56.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 60 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Adebola most popular?
The single biggest year for Adebola was 1978, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Adebola is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Adebola in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 644 people with the name Adebola, or 0.21 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,227 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Adebola in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Adebola?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Adebola on both sides of the split. Of the 634 people counted with this name, 249 were male (39.3%) and 385 were female (60.7%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Adebola?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Adebola is Black at 95.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.9%) and White (1.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Adebola most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Adebola in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.7% (616 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Adebola in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Adebola a female name?
Yes, 75.0% of people registered as Adebola in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Adebola still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Adebola in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Adebola can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have Adebola as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.