Olalekan
A masculine Yoruba name of Nigerian origin meaning "wealth or fortune gathers at home".
Name Census estimates that about 24 living Americans carry the first name Olalekan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Olalekan today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Olalekan births was 1996 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Olalekan. 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 Olalekan with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Olalekan. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
24
~ 1 in 14,281,431 Americans
Peak year
1996
7 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2017 SSA rank
#10,479
Tracked since 1996
Census
Olalekan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 577 people with the first name Olalekan, which placed it at #18,616 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
#18,616
National first-name rank
People counted
577
577 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
99.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Olalekan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Olalekan is Black at 99.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (0.3%) and Two or More Races (0.3%). 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 Olalekan 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 Olalekan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American99.0% · 571
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 2
- Two or more races0.3% · 2
- White0.2% · 1
- Hispanic or Latino0.2% · 1
Popularity
Olalekan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Olalekan from the 1990s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 12 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Olalekan remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Olalekan 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 Olalekan 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 Olalekan
The name Olalekan is of Yoruba origin, an ethnic group predominantly found in southwestern Nigeria. It is derived from the combination of two Yoruba words, "Ola" and "Leke," which together translate to "wealth or fortune comes home." The name's roots can be traced back to the 15th century, when the Yoruba people were a prominent cultural and linguistic group in the region.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Olalekan can be found in the oral traditions and folklore of the Yoruba people. It was often given to newborn boys as a symbol of hope and prosperity, reflecting the parents' aspirations for their child's future.
The name Olalekan has been associated with several notable figures throughout history. One of the most famous was Olalekan Idowu, a Nigerian playwright and poet who lived from 1932 to 2008. His works, which explored themes of cultural identity and social commentary, were widely acclaimed and contributed significantly to the development of contemporary Nigerian literature.
Another prominent individual with the name Olalekan was Olalekan Adebanjo, a Nigerian businessman and entrepreneur who founded one of the country's largest conglomerates. Born in 1945, he played a crucial role in the growth of the Nigerian economy during the latter half of the 20th century.
In the realm of sports, Olalekan Okunola, a Nigerian professional footballer who played as a striker, made a name for himself in the 1980s and 1990s. He represented Nigeria at the international level and had a successful career in various European leagues.
The name Olalekan also found its way into the academic world with Olalekan Akinrinade, a renowned Nigerian scholar and professor of linguistics. Born in 1938, he made significant contributions to the study of African languages and their preservation.
Lastly, Olalekan Adekugbe, a Nigerian-born British actor and filmmaker, has gained recognition for his work in both theater and cinema. He has appeared in several acclaimed productions and continues to make an impact in the entertainment industry.
While the name Olalekan has maintained its cultural significance among the Yoruba people, it has also gained popularity beyond its place of origin, transcending geographic boundaries and serving as a testament to the rich cultural heritage of Nigeria.
People
Olalekan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Olalekan 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
Olalekan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Olalekan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 24 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Olalekan 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 14,281,431 US residents.
Is Olalekan a common name?
We classify Olalekan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 43% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 24 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Olalekan most popular?
The single biggest year for Olalekan was 1996, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Olalekan is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Olalekan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 577 people with the name Olalekan, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,616 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 Olalekan 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 Olalekan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Olalekan leans strongly male. 576 people counted with this name were male (99.0%), compared with 6 female bearers (1.0%). 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 Olalekan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Olalekan is Black at 99.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (0.3%) and Two or More Races (0.3%). 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 Olalekan most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Olalekan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 99.0% (571 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 Olalekan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Olalekan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Olalekan 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 Olalekan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Olalekan 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 Olalekan 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 Americans are named Olalekan?
You can see how many people have the name Olalekan on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.