Olney
Old English surname derived from a placename meaning "valley of an eel".
Name Census estimates that about 19 living Americans carry the first name Olney. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Olney today is around 86 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Olney births was 1919 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Olney. 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 Olney is about 86 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Olneys were born before 1950.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Olney. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
19
~ 1 in 18,039,702 Americans
Peak year
1919
21 babies that year
Average age
86
years old
1963 SSA rank
#4,458
Tracked since 1888
Popularity
Olney: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Olney from the 1880s through to the 1960s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 77 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
Olney 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 Olney 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 Olney
The name Olney is an English place name derived from the Old English words "ōl" meaning "elf" and "ēg" meaning "island." It is believed to have originated as a descriptive name for an area with a mythical or supernatural association, possibly referring to an island where elves were thought to reside.
The earliest recorded use of the name Olney dates back to the Domesday Book of 1086, where it was recorded as "Ollenei" and referred to a village in Buckinghamshire, England. This village is said to be the birthplace of the famous 18th-century hymn writer and poet John Newton, who was born there in 1725 and later became an influential figure in the Evangelical movement.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Olney was Sir William de Olney, a 13th-century English knight and landowner who held estates in Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire. During the reign of King Edward I, he served as a Member of Parliament for the county of Buckinghamshire.
In the 15th century, an English printer and translator named John Olney produced the first English translation of the French work "The Dialogue of Creatures Moralyzed." This translation, completed in 1480, was one of the earliest examples of printed literature in the English language.
Another notable figure with the name Olney was Thomas Olney, an English Puritan who emigrated to America in 1635 and became one of the founding settlers of the town of Providence, Rhode Island. He played a significant role in the early development of the colony and served as a Deputy to the General Court of Rhode Island.
In the field of literature, the name Olney is associated with the English poet William Cowper, who lived in the village of Olney from 1767 to 1795. During this time, he wrote several influential works, including "The Task" and "Olney Hymns," which he co-authored with John Newton. Cowper's poetry and hymns were highly influential in the Romantic movement and continue to be studied and celebrated today.
These are just a few examples of historical figures who bore the name Olney, illustrating its long and diverse history as an English given name with roots in Old English and associations with literature, religion, and early colonial settlement.
People
Olney + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Olney 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
Olney: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Olney?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 19 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Olney 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 18,039,702 US residents.
Is Olney a common name?
We classify Olney as "Very Rare". It ranks above 39.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 196 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Olney most popular?
The single biggest year for Olney was 1919, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Olney is about 86 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 Olney in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Olney a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Olney 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 Olney still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Olney 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 Olney 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 Olney as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Olney on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.