Oleander
A flower name derived from the oleander plant, symbolizing beauty and resilience.
Name Census estimates that about 67 living Americans carry the first name Oleander. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 80.6% of registrations being male. The average person named Oleander today is around 3 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Oleander births was 2023 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Oleander. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Oleander. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
67
~ 1 in 5,115,736 Americans
Peak year
2023
22 babies that year
Average age
3
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,079
Tracked since 2021
Gender
Gender distribution for Oleander
Oleander leans heavily male at 80.6% of total registrations, but 13 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Oleander as a male name
- Ranked #6,079 in 2024
- 15 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (15 births)
Oleander as a female name
- Ranked #17,000 in 2024
- 5 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (8 births)
Popularity
Oleander: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Oleander 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 Oleander during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 54 | 13 | 67 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Oleander
The name Oleander is derived from the Greek word "lēdanon," which means "rose laurel" or "oleander." The oleander plant is an evergreen shrub known for its beautiful, fragrant flowers and its toxicity. The name likely originated in ancient Greece, where the oleander plant was revered and associated with various myths and legends.
Oleander was not a common name in ancient times, but it did appear in some historical records. One of the earliest recorded uses of the name was in the 5th century AD, when a Greek scholar named Oleander lived and worked in Alexandria, Egypt. He was known for his contributions to the field of astronomy and mathematics.
In the Middle Ages, the name Oleander was occasionally used by individuals in Europe, particularly in regions with strong Greek cultural influences. For example, in the 12th century, there was a Byzantine monk named Oleander who lived in Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey).
One of the most notable historical figures with the name Oleander was a Dutch botanist named Oleander Bakhuizen van den Brink, born in 1608. He was a renowned taxonomist and made significant contributions to the study of plants, particularly in the Netherlands.
In the 19th century, the name Oleander gained some popularity in literature and the arts. One notable bearer of the name was Oleander Hampden, an English poet and writer born in 1822. She was known for her romantic poetry and her advocacy for women's rights.
Another prominent individual with the name Oleander was Oleander Hubbard, an American architect and designer who lived from 1870 to 1945. He was renowned for his work in the Arts and Crafts movement and his contributions to the development of American residential architecture.
While the name Oleander has never been extremely common, it has been used throughout history in various cultural contexts, often associated with the oleander plant and its symbolic significance in art, literature, and mythology.
People
Oleander + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Oleander 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
Oleander: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Oleander?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 67 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Oleander 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 5,115,736 US residents.
Is Oleander a common name?
We classify Oleander as "Very Rare". It ranks above 58.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 67 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Oleander most popular?
The single biggest year for Oleander was 2023, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Oleander is about 3 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Oleander in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Oleander a male name?
Yes, 80.6% of people registered as Oleander 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 Oleander still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Oleander 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 Oleander 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have the name Oleander?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.