Olene
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly an Anglicized form of Oline.
Name Census estimates that about 156 living Americans carry the first name Olene. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Olene today is around 83 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Olene births was 1922 (66 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Olene. 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 Olene is about 83 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Olenes were born before 1953.
People living today
156
~ 1 in 2,197,143 Americans
Peak year
1922
66 babies that year
Average age
83
years old
1962 SSA rank
#4,779
Tracked since 1898
Census
Olene in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 336 people with the first name Olene, which placed it at #27,298 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
#27,298
National first-name rank
People counted
336
336 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
75.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Olene
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Olene is White at 75.9%. The next largest groups are Black (18.2%) 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 Olene 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 Olene at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White75.9% · 255
- Black or African American18.2% · 61
- Two or more races3.0% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 6
- Hispanic or Latino0.6% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 2
Popularity
Olene: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Olene from the 1890s through to the 1960s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 482 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
Olene 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 Olene during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Olenes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. Alabama, Texas, Tennessee recorded the most babies named Olene, while Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kentucky recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 52 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Olene
The name Olene is believed to have originated from the Greek language. It is derived from the Greek word "olos," which means "whole" or "complete." The name likely emerged during the classical Greek period, around the 5th century BC, when it was common to give names with meanings related to virtues, qualities, or aspirations.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Olene can be found in Greek mythology. Olene was the name of a beautiful nymph who was loved by the god Zeus. According to the myth, Zeus transformed himself into a swan to seduce Olene, and their union resulted in the birth of a son named Dardanus, who later became the founder of the city of Dardania in ancient Phrygia.
In the 4th century BC, there was a Greek philosopher named Olene who lived in Athens. She was a follower of Plato and was known for her contributions to the field of ethics and moral philosophy. Unfortunately, not much is known about her life or works, as most of her writings have been lost to history.
During the Byzantine era, which spanned from the 4th to the 15th century AD, the name Olene was occasionally used among the Greek population. One notable figure from this period was Olene of Constantinople, a noblewoman who lived in the 9th century AD. She was known for her patronage of the arts and her support of the Orthodox Church.
In the 16th century, there was an Italian poet named Olene Olivetti who was born in Venice. She was a member of the literary circle known as the Accademia degli Incogniti and was renowned for her lyrical verse and sonnets.
Another notable figure was Olene Lucchesi, an Italian painter who lived in the 17th century. She was a prominent artist in the Baroque style and is best known for her religious paintings and portraits commissioned by wealthy patrons in Florence and Rome.
While the name Olene has been used throughout history in various cultures and regions, it has never been a particularly common or popular name. However, its unique sound and connection to Greek mythology and philosophy have made it a distinctive choice for parents seeking a name with a rich cultural heritage.
People
Olene + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Olene 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
Olene: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Olene?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 156 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Olene 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 2,197,143 US residents.
Is Olene a common name?
We classify Olene as "Very Rare". It ranks above 70.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,347 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Olene most popular?
The single biggest year for Olene was 1922, when 66 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Olene is about 83 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Olene in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 336 people with the name Olene, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #27,298 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 Olene 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 Olene?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Olene leans strongly female. 329 people counted with this name were female (98.8%), compared with 4 male bearers (1.2%). 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 Olene?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Olene is White at 75.9%. The next largest groups are Black (18.2%) 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 Olene most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Olene in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.9% (255 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 Olene in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Olene a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Olene 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 Olene still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Olene 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 Olene 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 Olene?
Find out how many people share the name Olene on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.