Omolara
A feminine Yoruba name meaning "the wealth/child has arrived home."
Name Census estimates that about 121 living Americans carry the first name Omolara. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Omolara today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Omolara births was 2000 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Omolara. 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 Omolara with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
121
~ 1 in 2,832,680 Americans
Peak year
2000
9 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2021 SSA rank
#17,043
Tracked since 1985
Census
Omolara in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 580 people with the first name Omolara, which placed it at #18,544 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
#18,544
National first-name rank
People counted
580
580 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
95.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Omolara
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Omolara is Black at 95.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (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 Omolara 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 Omolara at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American95.9% · 556
- Two or more races2.9% · 17
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 3
- White0.3% · 2
- Hispanic or Latino0.3% · 2
Popularity
Omolara: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Omolara from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 44 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Omolara 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 Omolara 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 Omolara
Omolara is a Yoruba name originating from southwestern Nigeria, a region with a rich cultural heritage dating back several centuries. The name is derived from the Yoruba words "Omo," meaning child, and "Ola," meaning wealth or fortune. Combined, Omolara translates to "a child of fortune" or "a child born into wealth."
The Yoruba people have a long-standing tradition of bestowing meaningful names upon their children, reflecting their values, beliefs, and hopes for the newborn. Omolara was likely a popular name among the Yoruba as it conveyed a sense of prosperity and blessings.
While the exact origin of the name is unclear, it is believed to have been in use among the Yoruba people for several centuries. Records of individuals bearing the name Omolara can be found in historical accounts and oral traditions passed down through generations.
One notable historical figure bearing the name was Omolara, the wife of the revered Yoruba warrior and leader, Ogunkoroju. She was known for her wisdom and strength, playing a crucial role in her husband's military campaigns and diplomatic efforts in the 18th century.
Another prominent individual was Omolara Ogundipe, a Nigerian writer, and activist born in 1937. She was a fierce advocate for women's rights and education, using her literary works to challenge societal norms and promote gender equality.
In the realm of music, Omolara Olatunbosun, born in 1958, was a renowned Nigerian singer and songwriter. Her soulful voice and insightful lyrics earned her widespread acclaim and contributed to the preservation of Yoruba cultural heritage.
The name Omolara has also been carried by influential figures beyond Nigeria. Omolara Aluko, born in 1944, was a British-Nigerian academic and author who played a significant role in promoting African literature and challenging colonial narratives.
Another notable bearer of the name was Omolara Williams, an American writer, and educator. Born in 1962, she authored several books exploring themes of identity, culture, and the African diaspora experience.
Throughout its history, the name Omolara has embodied the hopes, aspirations, and cultural richness of the Yoruba people, while also transcending borders and inspiring individuals across various disciplines and backgrounds.
People
Omolara + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Omolara 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
Omolara: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Omolara?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 121 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Omolara 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 2,832,680 US residents.
Is Omolara a common name?
We classify Omolara as "Very Rare". It ranks above 67.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 123 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Omolara most popular?
The single biggest year for Omolara was 2000, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Omolara is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Omolara in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 580 people with the name Omolara, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,544 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 Omolara 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 Omolara?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Omolara appears almost entirely female. Of the 583 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Omolara?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Omolara is Black at 95.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (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 Omolara most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Omolara in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.9% (556 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 Omolara in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Omolara a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Omolara 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 Omolara still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Omolara 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 Omolara 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 Americans are named Omolara?
Want to know how many people share the name Omolara? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.