Olisa
An Igbo masculine name meaning "all-conquering" or "winner over all".
Name Census estimates that about 52 living Americans carry the first name Olisa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Olisa today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Olisa births was 1979 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Olisa. 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 Olisa with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Olisa. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
52
~ 1 in 6,591,430 Americans
Peak year
1979
11 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
2016 SSA rank
#18,162
Tracked since 1969
Census
Olisa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 226 people with the first name Olisa, which placed it at #35,529 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
#35,529
National first-name rank
People counted
226
226 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
61.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Olisa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Olisa is Black at 61.9%. The next largest groups are White (21.7%) and Hispanic (6.2%). 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 Olisa 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 Olisa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American61.9% · 140
- White21.7% · 49
- Hispanic or Latino6.2% · 14
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.4% · 10
- Two or more races4.0% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 4
Popularity
Olisa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Olisa from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 22 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Olisa 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 Olisa 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 Olisa
The name Olisa has its origins in the Igbo culture of Nigeria. It is a combination of two Igbo words: 'Olu' meaning 'source' or 'head' and 'isa' meaning 'play' or 'to rejoice'. Together, the name can be interpreted to mean 'source of joy' or 'head of rejoicing'.
The earliest recorded use of the name Olisa dates back to the 15th century, during the height of the Nri Kingdom, one of the oldest and most influential kingdoms in Igboland. It is believed that the name was first given to children born during times of great celebration or after a period of hardship, symbolizing the joy and relief felt by their families and communities.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name Olisa was Olisa Nri, a prominent ruler of the Nri Kingdom in the late 15th century. He was renowned for his wisdom, diplomacy, and efforts to promote unity among the various Igbo clans and communities.
In the 17th century, the name Olisa gained popularity among the Igbo people living in the Kingdom of Arochukwu, a major center of slave trade and commerce. Olisa Aro, a wealthy and influential merchant and slave trader, was a notable figure of this era.
During the 19th century, the name Olisa became associated with resistance and resilience against British colonial rule. Olisa Opara, a warrior and leader of the Aro Confederacy, played a significant role in the Aro Expedition of 1901-1902, a conflict between the British and the Aro people.
In more recent times, Olisa has continued to be a popular name among the Igbo people, and it has been adopted by people of other cultures and nationalities as well. Olisa Agbakoba, a prominent Nigerian lawyer and human rights activist, was born in 1953 and has been a vocal advocate for democracy and good governance in Nigeria.
Olisa Metuh, born in 1959, is a Nigerian politician and former spokesperson for the People's Democratic Party (PDP). He served as the National Publicity Secretary of the party from 2012 to 2015.
While the name Olisa has its roots in the Igbo culture, it has transcended its origins and is now recognized and embraced by people around the world, carrying with it a sense of joy, celebration, and resilience.
People
Olisa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Olisa 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
Olisa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Olisa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 52 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Olisa 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 6,591,430 US residents.
Is Olisa a common name?
We classify Olisa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 54.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 56 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Olisa most popular?
The single biggest year for Olisa was 1979, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Olisa is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Olisa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 226 people with the name Olisa, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #35,529 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 Olisa 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 Olisa?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Olisa on both sides of the split. Of the 213 people counted with this name, 63 were male (29.6%) and 150 were female (70.4%). 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 Olisa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Olisa is Black at 61.9%. The next largest groups are White (21.7%) and Hispanic (6.2%). 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 Olisa most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Olisa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.9% (140 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 Olisa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Olisa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Olisa 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 Olisa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Olisa 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 Olisa 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 Olisa?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.