Folarin
A masculine name of Yoruba origin meaning "wealth inheritor".
Name Census estimates that about 65 living Americans carry the first name Folarin. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Folarin today is around 6 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Folarin births was 2023 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Folarin. 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 Folarin with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Folarin. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
65
~ 1 in 5,273,144 Americans
Peak year
2023
13 babies that year
Average age
6
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,868
Tracked since 2016
Census
Folarin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 155 people with the first name Folarin, which placed it at #44,540 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
#44,540
National first-name rank
People counted
155
155 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
98.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Folarin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Folarin is Black at 98.7%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (1.3%). 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 Folarin 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 Folarin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American98.7% · 153
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 2
Popularity
Folarin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Folarin from the 2010s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 34 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Folarin 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 Folarin 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 Folarin
The name Folarin originated from the Yoruba people of present-day southwestern Nigeria. It is an ancient West African name that dates back several centuries. The name is derived from the Yoruba words "ọlá" meaning "wealth" and "rìn" meaning "to walk," thus translating to "one who walks in wealth" or "one who brings wealth."
In the traditional Yoruba culture, names were carefully chosen and often carried significant meanings related to circumstances surrounding the child's birth, family history, or desired attributes for the child's life. The name Folarin was typically given to a child born into a prosperous family or with the hope that the child would bring prosperity and success to the family.
While the exact origin of the name is uncertain, it is believed to have been in use among the Yoruba people as early as the 16th century during the height of the Oyo Empire, one of the most powerful and influential Yoruba states. The name is mentioned in some ancient Yoruba oral traditions and folklore, reflecting its deep roots in the culture.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Folarin can be found in the writings of Samuel Ajayi Crowther, a Yoruba explorer, linguist, and the first African Anglican bishop in Nigeria, who lived from 1809 to 1891. He documented the name in his works on Yoruba language and culture.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Folarin, including:
1. Folarin Coker (born c. 1950), a Nigerian politician and lawyer who served as the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Lagos State.
2. Folarin Alakija (born 1981), a Nigerian fashion designer and entrepreneur known for his luxury fashion brand.
3. Folarin Falana (born 1974), a Nigerian human rights lawyer and activist, known for his work on social justice issues.
4. Folarin Balogun (born 1988), a Nigerian-American professional basketball player who played for several teams in Europe and the NBA G League.
5. Folarin Olunloyo (1923-2011), a Nigerian historian, writer, and academic who authored several books on Yoruba history and culture.
While the name Folarin has its roots in the Yoruba culture, it has gained popularity across Nigeria and among the Nigerian diaspora worldwide, transcending its cultural boundaries and serving as a testament to the rich linguistic and cultural heritage of the Yoruba people.
People
Folarin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Folarin as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with F
Other first names starting with F with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Folarin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Folarin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 65 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Folarin 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 5,273,144 US residents.
Is Folarin a common name?
We classify Folarin as "Very Rare". It ranks above 58.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 65 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Folarin most popular?
The single biggest year for Folarin was 2023, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Folarin is about 6 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Folarin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 155 people with the name Folarin, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #44,540 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 Folarin 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 Folarin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Folarin leans strongly male. 148 people counted with this name were male (93.1%), compared with 11 female bearers (6.9%). 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 Folarin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Folarin is Black at 98.7%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (1.3%). 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 Folarin most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Folarin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.7% (153 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 Folarin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Folarin a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Folarin in the SSA data are male. 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 Folarin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Folarin 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 Folarin 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 share the name Folarin?
You can see how many people have the name Folarin on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.