Eola
Wind maiden from Celtic mythology, symbolizing the free-spirited nature of the wind.
Name Census estimates that about 58 living Americans carry the first name Eola. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Eola today is around 86 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Eola births was 1922 (37 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Eola. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Eola is about 86 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Eolas were born before 1950.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Eola. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
58
~ 1 in 5,909,558 Americans
Peak year
1922
37 babies that year
Average age
86
years old
1956 SSA rank
#5,488
Tracked since 1880
Census
Eola in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 134 people with the first name Eola, which placed it at #48,062 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
#48,062
National first-name rank
People counted
134
134 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
53.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Eola
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Eola is Black at 53.7%. The next largest groups are White (33.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.2%). 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 Eola 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 Eola at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American53.7% · 72
- White33.6% · 45
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.2% · 7
- Hispanic or Latino4.5% · 6
- Two or more races3.0% · 4
Popularity
Eola: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Eola from the 1880s through to the 1950s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 208 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Eola 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 Eola during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Eolas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas recorded the most babies named Eola, while Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 45 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Eola
The name Eola is a feminine given name with its origins tracing back to the Gaelic language spoken in ancient Ireland and Scotland. It is derived from the Old Irish word "eó," which means "kernel" or "seed," representing the essence or core of something. The name is believed to have first emerged around the 5th or 6th century CE during the early medieval period in Ireland.
One of the earliest known references to the name Eola can be found in the ancient Irish tale "The Wooing of Emer," where it is mentioned as the name of a female character. This text, part of the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology, dates back to the 8th or 9th century CE and provides insight into the early use of the name.
Eola was also the name of a 6th-century Irish saint, known as Saint Eola or Ola of Clonard. She was a nun and the sister of St. Brendan the Navigator, a famous Irish monk and explorer. Her feast day is celebrated on May 22nd in the Catholic Church, indicating the historical significance of her name.
In the 9th century, Eola was the name of a daughter of the Irish King Áed Findliath, who ruled the Kingdom of Ailech from 863 to 879 CE. This royal connection suggests that the name held a certain prestige and was used among the nobility of the time.
Another notable figure named Eola was a 12th-century Irish noblewoman and heiress, known as Eola ingen Muirchertaig. She was the daughter of Muirchertach Ua Briain, the King of Munster, and played a significant role in the politics and power struggles of her time.
Throughout history, variations of the name Eola have been used, such as Eolá, Eolaith, and Ola. These variations may have emerged due to regional dialects, linguistic influences, or personal preferences, but they all trace their roots back to the original Old Irish name Eola.
People
Eola + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Eola as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with E
Other first names starting with E with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Eola: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Eola?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 58 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Eola 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 Eola a common name?
We classify Eola 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, 740 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Eola most popular?
The single biggest year for Eola was 1922, when 37 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Eola is about 86 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Eola in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 134 people with the name Eola, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #48,062 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 Eola 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 Eola?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Eola leans strongly female. 134 people counted with this name were female (98.5%), compared with 2 male bearers (1.5%). 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 Eola?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Eola is Black at 53.7%. The next largest groups are White (33.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.2%). 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 Eola most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Eola in the 2020 Census, accounting for 53.7% (72 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 Eola in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Eola a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Eola 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 Eola still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Eola 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 Eola 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 are called Eola?
You can see how many Americans are named Eola on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.