Olean
An English feminine name derived from the plant oleander.
Name Census estimates that about 100 living Americans carry the first name Olean. It is a predominantly female name (98.0% of registrations). The average person named Olean today is around 84 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Olean births was 1926 (39 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Olean. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Olean is about 84 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Oleans were born before 1952.
People living today
100
~ 1 in 3,427,543 Americans
Peak year
1926
39 babies that year
Average age
84
years old
1931 SSA rank
#4,171
Tracked since 1900
Census
Olean in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 169 people with the first name Olean, which placed it at #42,487 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
#42,487
National first-name rank
People counted
169
169 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
59.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Olean
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Olean is Black at 59.2%. The next largest groups are White (36.7%) and Two or More Races (3.0%). 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 Olean 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 Olean at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American59.2% · 100
- White36.7% · 62
- Two or more races3.0% · 5
- Hispanic or Latino1.2% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Olean
Olean leans heavily female at 98.0% of total registrations, but 17 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Olean as a male name
- Ranked #4,171 in 1931
- 5 male births in 1931
- Peak: 1926 (7 births)
Olean as a female name
- Ranked #7,335 in 1963
- 5 female births in 1963
- Peak: 1921 (36 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Olean leans strongly female. 158 people counted with this name were female (89.3%), compared with 19 male bearers (10.7%).
Popularity
Olean: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Olean from the 1900s through to the 1960s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 313 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
Olean 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 Olean during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Oleans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. Alabama, Texas, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Olean, while Mississippi, Kentucky, Tennessee recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 26 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Olean
The name Olean has its origins in the ancient Greek language and culture, originating around the 5th century BC. It is derived from the Greek word "olea," which means "olive tree." The olive tree held immense significance in ancient Greek society, symbolizing peace, wisdom, and prosperity.
In ancient Greek mythology, the olive tree played a crucial role in the founding of Athens. According to legend, the goddess Athena and Poseidon engaged in a contest to become the patron deity of the city. Athena gifted the Athenians an olive tree, representing peace and sustenance, while Poseidon offered a salt-water spring. The Athenians chose Athena's gift, and the city was named after her.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Olean can be found in ancient Greek texts and historical records from the 5th century BC onwards. One notable figure bearing this name was Olean of Samos, a renowned architect who lived in the 6th century BC and is credited with designing the Temple of Hera on the island of Samos.
During the Byzantine era, the name Olean gained popularity among Greek Christians. It was often associated with the concept of peace and harmony, reflecting the symbolism of the olive tree in Greek culture. In the 9th century AD, Olean of Constantinople became a notable figure as a scholar and theologian, contributing to the intellectual discourse of the time.
Another noteworthy individual with the name Olean was Olean of Tyre, a 12th-century crusader and military leader who participated in the Third Crusade. He gained recognition for his bravery and strategic prowess during the siege of Acre in 1191.
In the 15th century, Olean Palaiologos, a member of the Byzantine imperial family, played a significant role in the cultural and intellectual life of the era. She was a patron of the arts and supported the preservation of ancient Greek texts and literature during the decline of the Byzantine Empire.
The name Olean also found its way into the literary realm, with Olean being a character in the ancient Greek play "The Bacchae" by Euripides, written in the 5th century BC. This play explored themes of freedom, obedience, and the power of the gods, reflecting the cultural and philosophical context of ancient Greece.
People
Olean + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Olean 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
Olean: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Olean?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 100 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Olean 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 3,427,543 US residents.
Is Olean a common name?
We classify Olean as "Very Rare". It ranks above 64.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 870 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Olean most popular?
The single biggest year for Olean was 1926, when 39 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Olean is about 84 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Olean in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 169 people with the name Olean, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #42,487 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 Olean 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 Olean?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Olean leans strongly female. 158 people counted with this name were female (89.3%), compared with 19 male bearers (10.7%). 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 Olean?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Olean is Black at 59.2%. The next largest groups are White (36.7%) and Two or More Races (3.0%). 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 Olean most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Olean in the 2020 Census, accounting for 59.2% (100 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 Olean in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Olean a female name?
Yes, 98.0% of people registered as Olean 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 Olean still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Olean 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 Olean 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 are named Olean?
Find out how many people share the name Olean on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.