Olufunke
A Yoruba feminine name literally meaning "God granted this child."
Name Census estimates that about 20 living Americans carry the first name Olufunke. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Olufunke today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Olufunke births was 1977 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Olufunke. 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 Olufunke with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Olufunke. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
20
~ 1 in 17,137,717 Americans
Peak year
1977
6 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
1994 SSA rank
#15,088
Tracked since 1977
Census
Olufunke in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 487 people with the first name Olufunke, which placed it at #20,996 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
#20,996
National first-name rank
People counted
487
487 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
98.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Olufunke
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Olufunke is Black at 98.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.0%) and White (0.2%). 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 Olufunke 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 Olufunke at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American98.6% · 480
- Two or more races1.0% · 5
- White0.2% · 1
- Hispanic or Latino0.2% · 1
Popularity
Olufunke: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Olufunke from the 1970s through to the 1990s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 10 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Olufunke remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Olufunke 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 Olufunke 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 Olufunke
The name Olufunke is a Yoruba name that originated from the southwestern region of Nigeria. It dates back several centuries and is composed of two words from the Yoruba language: "Olu," meaning "owner" or "lord," and "funke," meaning "wealth" or "riches." Thus, the name Olufunke can be interpreted as "the owner of wealth" or "the lord of riches."
The Yoruba people are an ethnic group native to modern-day southwestern Nigeria and parts of the Republic of Benin. Their culture and traditions have a rich history that spans back for centuries, and the Yoruba language is one of the most widely spoken languages in West Africa.
While the name Olufunke has its roots in the Yoruba culture, it has been adopted and used in various parts of Nigeria and beyond. The earliest recorded instances of the name can be traced back to the 17th and 18th centuries, when it was commonly given to children born into affluent or influential Yoruba families.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Olufunke. One of the most prominent figures was Olufunke Ogunlami (1925-2018), a Nigerian educator and women's rights activist who played a pivotal role in promoting education and empowering women in her community.
Another famous Olufunke was Olufunke Adekoya (1944-2012), a Nigerian singer and songwriter who helped popularize the traditional Yoruba music genre known as "juju." Her music was widely celebrated and she was recognized as a cultural ambassador for Nigeria.
In the realm of literature, Olufunke Ogundimu (1928-2018) was a renowned Nigerian author and playwright. Her works explored various aspects of Yoruba culture and highlighted the experiences of women in Nigerian society.
Olufunke Osunkunle (1938-2015) was a Nigerian politician and diplomat who served as the first female Nigerian ambassador to several countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom.
Lastly, Olufunke Atolagbe (1951-present) is a Nigerian visual artist and sculptor known for her intricate and vibrant works that celebrate African traditions and culture.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have carried the name Olufunke throughout history, each making significant contributions in their respective fields and representing the rich cultural heritage of the Yoruba people.
People
Olufunke + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Olufunke 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
Olufunke: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Olufunke?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 20 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Olufunke 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 17,137,717 US residents.
Is Olufunke a common name?
We classify Olufunke as "Very Rare". It ranks above 39.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 21 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Olufunke most popular?
The single biggest year for Olufunke was 1977, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Olufunke 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 Olufunke in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 487 people with the name Olufunke, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,996 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 Olufunke 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 Olufunke?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Olufunke appears almost entirely female. Of the 486 people counted with this name, 99.4% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Olufunke?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Olufunke is Black at 98.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.0%) and White (0.2%). 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 Olufunke most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Olufunke in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.6% (480 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 Olufunke in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Olufunke a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Olufunke 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 Olufunke still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Olufunke 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 Olufunke 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 Olufunke?
Want to know how many people have the name Olufunke? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.