Lolita
A feminine name of Spanish origin meaning "little lady".
Name Census estimates that about 5,722 living Americans carry the first name Lolita. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lolita today is around 55 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lolita births was 1963 (432 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lolita. 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 Lolita with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
5.7K
~ 1 in 59,901 Americans
Peak year
1963
432 babies that year
Average age
55
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,686
Tracked since 1890
Census
Lolita in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 9,616 people with the first name Lolita, which placed it at #2,528 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
#2,528
National first-name rank
People counted
9.6K
9,616 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
36.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lolita
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lolita is Asian/Pacific Islander at 36.1%. The next largest groups are Black (33.9%) and White (15.4%). 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 Lolita 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 Lolita at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander36.1% · 3,474
- Black or African American33.9% · 3,263
- White15.4% · 1,480
- Hispanic or Latino10.3% · 988
- Two or more races2.7% · 256
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 155
Popularity
Lolita: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lolita from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 2,496 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lolita 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 Lolita during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lolitas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 30 states and territories. Illinois, California, New York recorded the most babies named Lolita, while West Virginia, Kansas, Iowa recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 153 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lolita
The name Lolita originated from the Spanish diminutive form of the name Dolores, which means "sorrows" in Spanish. It was initially used as an affectionate nickname or pet name for girls named Dolores. The name gained popularity in the 19th century, particularly after the publication of Vladimir Nabokov's controversial novel "Lolita" in 1955.
In the novel, Lolita is the name of the young protagonist, a 12-year-old girl who becomes the object of desire for the middle-aged narrator, Humbert Humbert. While the novel is a work of fiction, it explored themes of pedophilia and sexual obsession, leading to public outrage and censorship in some countries upon its release.
Despite the controversial nature of the novel, the name Lolita gained popularity as a given name, especially in Spanish-speaking countries. Some notable historical figures named Lolita include Lolita Lebrón (1919-2010), a Puerto Rican nationalist who participated in an attack on the United States House of Representatives in 1954.
Another notable Lolita was Lolita Torres (1960-2002), a Mexican actress and model who appeared in various telenovelas and films. Lolita de la Colina (1903-1990) was a renowned Mexican painter and sculptor, known for her surrealist works.
In the realm of literature, Lolita Chakrabarti is a British playwright and actress, born in 1976, known for her plays such as "Red Velvet" and "Life of Pi." Lolita Dallas (1939-2002) was an American entrepreneur and fashion designer, recognized for her contributions to the lingerie industry.
While the name Lolita has been associated with controversial themes due to Nabokov's novel, it has maintained a presence throughout history, with individuals bearing the name achieving notable accomplishments in various fields.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Lolita
People
Lolita + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lolita 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
Lolita: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lolita?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,722 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lolita 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 59,901 US residents.
Is Lolita a common name?
We classify Lolita as "Rare". It ranks above 96.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 8,655 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lolita most popular?
The single biggest year for Lolita was 1963, when 432 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lolita is about 55 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lolita in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 9,616 people with the name Lolita, or 3.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,528 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 Lolita 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 Lolita?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lolita appears almost entirely female. Of the 9,616 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Lolita?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lolita is Asian/Pacific Islander at 36.1%. The next largest groups are Black (33.9%) and White (15.4%). 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 Lolita most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Lolita in the 2020 Census, accounting for 36.1% (3,474 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 Lolita in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lolita a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lolita 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 Lolita still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lolita 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 Lolita 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 Lolita?
Find out how many people share the name Lolita on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.