Leola
A feminine name of uncertain origin, potentially derived from French.
Name Census estimates that about 4,919 living Americans carry the first name Leola. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Leola today is around 69 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Leola births was 1920 (855 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Leola. 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 Leola with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Leola is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 52 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • The typical person named Leola is about 69 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Leolas were born before 1967.
People living today
4.9K
~ 1 in 69,680 Americans
Peak year
1920
855 babies that year
Average age
69
years old
1937 SSA rank
#3,822
Tracked since 1880
Census
Leola in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,941 people with the first name Leola, which placed it at #3,490 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
#3,490
National first-name rank
People counted
5.9K
5,941 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
54.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Leola
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leola is Black at 54.3%. The next largest groups are White (38.1%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Leola 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 Leola at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American54.3% · 3,226
- White38.1% · 2,266
- Two or more races3.2% · 190
- Hispanic or Latino2.4% · 143
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 82
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 34
Gender
Gender distribution for Leola
Out of the 28,164 babies given the name Leola since 1880, 99.8% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Leola as a male name
- Ranked #3,822 in 1937
- 5 male births in 1937
- Peak: 1924 (7 births)
Leola as a female name
- Ranked #6,272 in 2024
- 19 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1920 (849 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Leola appears almost entirely female. Of the 5,946 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Leola: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Leola from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 7,097 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
Leola 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 Leola during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Leolas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 41 states and territories. Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama recorded the most babies named Leola, while Arizona, Montana, District of Columbia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 492 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Leola
The name Leola has its origins in the Greek language, with roots tracing back to ancient times. It is a combination of two Greek words: "leon," meaning lion, and "lalia," meaning speech or voice. The name's earliest known spelling was "Leolalia," which later evolved into the more compact form, Leola.
In Greek mythology, the lion was a symbol of strength, courage, and royalty. This connection suggests that Leola may have been given to daughters of noble or influential families in ancient Greece, with the name representing qualities of boldness and eloquence.
While there are no definitive records of the name's appearance in ancient Greek texts or scriptures, it is believed to have been in use during the Classical period of ancient Greece, which spanned from the 5th to the 4th century BC.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Leola can be found in the writings of the Roman historian Livy, who documented the life of a woman named Leola living in the 1st century BC. Livy described her as a skilled orator and influential figure in Roman society.
Throughout history, several notable women have borne the name Leola:
1. Leola N. King (1892-1972), an American educator and civil rights activist who fought for equal educational opportunities for African American students in the early 20th century.
2. Leola Pearl Buck (1926-2005), an American author and playwright known for her works exploring themes of race, culture, and identity.
3. Leola Ida Fick (1885-1960), a German-American mathematician and educator who made significant contributions to the field of geometry.
4. Leola Eugenie Anderson (1891-1985), an American opera singer and vocal teacher who performed with the Metropolitan Opera in the early 20th century.
5. Leola Bessie Long (1900-1963), an American businesswoman and philanthropist who founded the Long Foundation, which supported educational and cultural initiatives.
These individuals, spanning different eras and fields, exemplify the diverse interpretations and legacies associated with the name Leola throughout history.
People
Leola + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Leola as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Leola: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Leola?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,919 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Leola 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 69,680 US residents.
Is Leola a common name?
We classify Leola as "Rare". It ranks above 96.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 28,164 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Leola most popular?
The single biggest year for Leola was 1920, when 855 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Leola is about 69 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Leola in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,941 people with the name Leola, or 1.97 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,490 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 Leola 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 Leola?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Leola appears almost entirely female. Of the 5,946 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Leola?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leola is Black at 54.3%. The next largest groups are White (38.1%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Leola most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Leola in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.3% (3,226 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 Leola in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Leola a female name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Leola 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 Leola still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Leola 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 Leola 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 the name Leola?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Leola, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.