Oladimeji
Crown bestows royalty upon a child of wealth.
Name Census estimates that about 32 living Americans carry the first name Oladimeji. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Oladimeji today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Oladimeji births was 2000 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Oladimeji. 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 Oladimeji with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Oladimeji. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
32
~ 1 in 10,711,073 Americans
Peak year
2000
6 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2014 SSA rank
#13,486
Tracked since 1980
Census
Oladimeji in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 221 people with the first name Oladimeji, which placed it at #36,071 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
#36,071
National first-name rank
People counted
221
221 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
96.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Oladimeji
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Oladimeji is Black at 96.8%. The next largest groups are White (1.4%) and Hispanic (0.9%). 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 Oladimeji 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 Oladimeji at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American96.8% · 214
- White1.4% · 3
- Hispanic or Latino0.9% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 2
Popularity
Oladimeji: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Oladimeji from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 23 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Oladimeji 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 Oladimeji 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 Oladimeji
The name Oladimeji originates from the Yoruba language spoken in southwestern Nigeria and neighboring regions. It dates back to the 15th century or earlier during the height of the Oyo Empire in present-day Nigeria. The name is composed of two Yoruba words: "Ola" meaning wealth or fortune, and "dimeji" meaning to meet or encounter.
Oladimeji was likely initially used to name children born into prosperous families or under auspicious circumstances. The name carries the meaning "one who encounters wealth or good fortune." It may have been given to signify the parents' hope that their child would lead a prosperous life.
While the name does not appear to be directly referenced in ancient texts or religious scriptures, its Yoruba origins suggest it has been in use for several centuries among the Yoruba people of West Africa.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Oladimeji was Oladimeji Ogunlesi, a Nigerian lawyer and politician who served as the Attorney General of Western Nigeria from 1960 to 1962. He was born in 1915 and played a significant role in the legal and political landscape of Nigeria during the transition to independence.
Another notable figure named Oladimeji was Oladimeji Aderemi, the Oni of Ife, a traditional ruler of the Yoruba town of Ile-Ife in present-day Osun State, Nigeria. He held the position from 1930 to 1980 and was an influential figure in preserving Yoruba culture and traditions.
In the field of sports, Oladimeji Abiodun was a Nigerian footballer who played as a striker for several clubs in the Nigerian Premier League in the 1980s and 1990s. He was part of the Nigerian national team that participated in the 1988 African Cup of Nations.
Oladimeji Fafunwa was a Nigerian educationist and scholar who made significant contributions to the development of education in Nigeria. He served as the Director of Education in the Western Region of Nigeria from 1967 to 1975 and advocated for the use of mother tongues in primary education.
Lastly, Oladimeji Bankole was a Nigerian politician who served as the Speaker of the House of Representatives of Nigeria from 2007 to 2011. He played a crucial role in shaping legislation during his tenure and was known for his efforts to promote transparency and accountability in government.
People
Oladimeji + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Oladimeji as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with O
Other first names starting with O with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Oladimeji: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Oladimeji?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 32 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Oladimeji 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 10,711,073 US residents.
Is Oladimeji a common name?
We classify Oladimeji as "Very Rare". It ranks above 47.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 33 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Oladimeji most popular?
The single biggest year for Oladimeji was 2000, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Oladimeji is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Oladimeji in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 221 people with the name Oladimeji, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #36,071 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 Oladimeji 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 Oladimeji?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Oladimeji leans strongly male. 222 people counted with this name were male (97.8%), compared with 5 female bearers (2.2%). 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 Oladimeji?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Oladimeji is Black at 96.8%. The next largest groups are White (1.4%) and Hispanic (0.9%). 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 Oladimeji most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Oladimeji in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.8% (214 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 Oladimeji in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Oladimeji a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Oladimeji 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 Oladimeji still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Oladimeji 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 Oladimeji 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 common is the name Oladimeji?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.