Olusegun
Victory over malice crowns one's efforts.
Name Census estimates that about 74 living Americans carry the first name Olusegun. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Olusegun today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Olusegun births was 1985 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Olusegun. 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 Olusegun with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Olusegun. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
74
~ 1 in 4,631,815 Americans
Peak year
1985
8 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2006 SSA rank
#13,467
Tracked since 1976
Census
Olusegun in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 818 people with the first name Olusegun, which placed it at #14,422 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
#14,422
National first-name rank
People counted
818
818 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
97.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Olusegun
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Olusegun is Black at 97.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.6%) and White (0.5%). 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 Olusegun 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 Olusegun at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American97.3% · 796
- Two or more races1.6% · 13
- White0.5% · 4
- Hispanic or Latino0.4% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.1% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Popularity
Olusegun: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Olusegun from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 25 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Olusegun remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Olusegun 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 Olusegun 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 Olusegun
Olusegun is a Yoruba name originating from southwestern Nigeria. The name dates back to the 16th century and is derived from the Yoruba words "Olu" meaning "owner" or "lord" and "ṣẹgun" meaning "to wage war." Together, the name Olusegun can be interpreted as "the lord wages war" or "the owner wages war."
The earliest known references to the name Olusegun can be found in oral histories and folktales passed down through generations of the Yoruba people. These stories often depicted individuals with the name as brave warriors and leaders who led their communities in times of conflict.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Olusegun appears in the 17th century, when a Yoruba chief by that name led his people in a successful defense against a neighboring kingdom's invasion. This event solidified the association of the name with strength, courage, and military prowess.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Olusegun. One of the most famous was Olusegun Obasanjo (born 1937), a Nigerian military leader and politician who served as the President of Nigeria from 1976 to 1979 and again from 1999 to 2007. His leadership during a turbulent period in Nigerian history earned him widespread respect and recognition.
Another prominent figure with the name Olusegun was Olusegun Aremu Okikiola Obasanjo (1923-2021), a Nigerian writer, philosopher, and educator who played a significant role in promoting Yoruba culture and literature. His works, such as "The Philosophical Fragments" and "The Myth of Oduduwa," explored the rich heritage and traditions of the Yoruba people.
In the realm of sports, Olusegun Odusanya (born 1965) was a Nigerian sprinter who won a silver medal in the 4x100m relay at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. His achievements brought pride and recognition to Nigeria on the international stage.
Olusegun Awolowo (1909-1987) was a Nigerian nationalist, writer, and political leader who advocated for the rights and self-determination of the Yoruba people. His influential writings, such as "Path to Nigerian Freedom" and "Thoughts on the Nigerian Constitution," shaped the discourse on Nigerian independence and governance.
Olusegun Mimiko (born 1954) is a Nigerian politician and former governor of Ondo State. During his tenure from 2009 to 2017, he implemented various social and economic policies aimed at improving the lives of the people in his state.
People
Olusegun + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Olusegun 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
Olusegun: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Olusegun?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 74 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Olusegun 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 4,631,815 US residents.
Is Olusegun a common name?
We classify Olusegun as "Very Rare". It ranks above 60.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 77 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Olusegun most popular?
The single biggest year for Olusegun was 1985, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Olusegun is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Olusegun in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 818 people with the name Olusegun, or 0.27 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,422 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 Olusegun 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 Olusegun?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Olusegun appears almost entirely male. Of the 817 people counted with this name, 99.1% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Olusegun?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Olusegun is Black at 97.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.6%) and White (0.5%). 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 Olusegun most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Olusegun in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.3% (796 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 Olusegun in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Olusegun a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Olusegun 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 Olusegun still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Olusegun 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 Olusegun 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 called Olusegun?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.