Oletha
A feminine name derived from the Greek Olethros meaning "ruin, destruction".
Name Census estimates that about 317 living Americans carry the first name Oletha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Oletha today is around 68 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Oletha births was 1923 (41 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Oletha. 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 Oletha is about 68 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Olethas were born before 1968.
People living today
317
~ 1 in 1,081,244 Americans
Peak year
1923
41 babies that year
Average age
68
years old
1980 SSA rank
#11,622
Tracked since 1897
Census
Oletha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 408 people with the first name Oletha, which placed it at #23,859 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
#23,859
National first-name rank
People counted
408
408 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
63.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Oletha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Oletha is Black at 63.5%. The next largest groups are White (30.1%) and Two or More Races (2.9%). 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 Oletha 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 Oletha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American63.5% · 259
- White30.1% · 123
- Two or more races2.9% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 6
- Hispanic or Latino1.2% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 3
Popularity
Oletha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Oletha from the 1890s through to the 1980s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 329 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
Oletha 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 Oletha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Olethas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas recorded the most babies named Oletha, while Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 51 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Oletha
The name Oletha is thought to have originated from the Greek language, derived from the word "olethros," which means "ruin" or "destruction." The name's roots can be traced back to ancient Greece, where it was likely used, although its precise origin and meaning are not entirely clear.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Oletha appears in ancient Greek literature, specifically in the works of the poet Hesiod, who lived around the 8th century BC. In his epic poem "Works and Days," Hesiod mentions a character named Oletha, though little is known about the context or significance of this reference.
During the medieval period, the name Oletha seems to have fallen out of common usage, with few recorded instances of individuals bearing this name. However, it resurfaced in the 16th century, when a woman named Oletha Willoughby was mentioned in historical records from England, born around 1520.
In the 17th century, a notable figure named Oletha Cromwell, born in 1620, was a distant relative of the English military and political leader Oliver Cromwell. Little is known about her life, but her name serves as an example of the name's continued use during this period.
Moving into the 18th century, a woman named Oletha Fitzpatrick, born in 1745 in Ireland, gained some recognition as a poet and writer, although her works have been largely forgotten over time.
In the 19th century, the name Oletha saw a resurgence in popularity, with several notable individuals bearing this name. One such person was Oletha Rosemond, an American abolitionist and women's rights activist born in 1825. She was a vocal advocate for the abolition of slavery and played an active role in the Underground Railroad.
Another prominent figure from this era was Oletha Cunningham, born in 1840 in Scotland. She was a pioneering educator and author who wrote several influential books on childhood education and development.
As the 20th century approached, the name Oletha continued to be used, although it remained relatively uncommon. One notable bearer of this name was Oletha Fiske, an American artist and sculptor born in 1892. Her works were exhibited in various galleries and museums across the United States.
While the name Oletha has ancient roots and has been used throughout history, it has never achieved widespread popularity and remains a relatively uncommon name in modern times.
People
Oletha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Oletha 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
Oletha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Oletha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 317 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Oletha 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 1,081,244 US residents.
Is Oletha a common name?
We classify Oletha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,214 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Oletha most popular?
The single biggest year for Oletha was 1923, when 41 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Oletha is about 68 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Oletha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 408 people with the name Oletha, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #23,859 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 Oletha 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 Oletha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Oletha leans strongly female. 408 people counted with this name were female (98.8%), compared with 5 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 Oletha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Oletha is Black at 63.5%. The next largest groups are White (30.1%) and Two or More Races (2.9%). 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 Oletha most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Oletha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 63.5% (259 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 Oletha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Oletha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Oletha 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 Oletha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Oletha 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 Oletha 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 Oletha?
See how many people share the name Oletha on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.