Tola
A feminine name of Choctaw origin meaning "to be complete".
Name Census estimates that about 45 living Americans carry the first name Tola. It is a predominantly female name (94.5% of registrations). The average person named Tola today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tola births was 2010 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tola. 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 Tola with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Tola. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
45
~ 1 in 7,616,763 Americans
Peak year
2010
11 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
1981 SSA rank
#6,193
Tracked since 1899
Census
Tola in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 417 people with the first name Tola, which placed it at #23,447 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
#23,447
National first-name rank
People counted
417
417 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
38.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tola
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tola is Black at 38.6%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (28.3%) and White (27.1%). 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 Tola 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 Tola at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American38.6% · 161
- Asian and Pacific Islander28.3% · 118
- White27.1% · 113
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 14
- Two or more races2.6% · 11
Gender
Gender distribution for Tola
Tola leans heavily female at 94.5% of total registrations, but 6 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Tola as a male name
- Ranked #6,193 in 1981
- 6 male births in 1981
- Peak: 1981 (6 births)
Tola as a female name
- Ranked #17,305 in 2020
- 5 female births in 2020
- Peak: 2010 (11 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Tola on both sides of the split. Of the 420 people counted with this name, 190 were male (45.2%) and 230 were female (54.8%).
Popularity
Tola: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tola from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 30 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1910s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tola 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 Tola 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 Tola
The name Tola has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture, dating back to ancient times. It is derived from the Hebrew word "tola'at," which means "worm" or "crimson dye." The name is believed to have been given to individuals who were involved in the production or trade of the crimson dye, which was highly valued in ancient times.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Tola can be found in the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible. Tola was the name of a judge who ruled over the Israelites during the period of the Judges, which was approximately between the 12th and 11th centuries BCE. In the biblical account, Tola is described as the son of Puah, from the tribe of Issachar, and he judged Israel for twenty-three years.
Throughout history, the name Tola has been borne by several notable individuals. One of the earliest recorded was Tola, a Roman grammarian who lived during the 1st century BCE. Another notable figure was Tola, an Indian mathematician and astronomer who lived in the 5th century CE and made significant contributions to the field of mathematics.
In the Middle Ages, Tola was the name of a 12th-century Italian noblewoman who was known for her patronage of the arts and literature. She was a member of the powerful Aldobrandeschi family and played a significant role in the cultural life of Siena during her lifetime.
During the Renaissance period, Tola was the name of an Italian painter who lived in the 16th century. Although little is known about his life, some of his works have survived and are held in various collections around the world.
In more recent times, Tola was the name of an Italian politician and economist who lived in the 19th century. He served as the Minister of Finance in the Kingdom of Italy and played a crucial role in the country's economic development during the unification period.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Tola. While the name may have its roots in ancient Hebrew culture, it has been used across various cultures and time periods, reflecting the diverse and rich history behind this name.
People
Tola + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tola as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Tola: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tola?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 45 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tola 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 7,616,763 US residents.
Is Tola a common name?
We classify Tola as "Very Rare". It ranks above 52.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 110 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tola most popular?
The single biggest year for Tola was 2010, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tola 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 Tola in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 417 people with the name Tola, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #23,447 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 Tola 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 Tola?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Tola on both sides of the split. Of the 420 people counted with this name, 190 were male (45.2%) and 230 were female (54.8%). 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 Tola?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tola is Black at 38.6%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (28.3%) and White (27.1%). 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 Tola most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Tola in the 2020 Census, accounting for 38.6% (161 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 Tola in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tola a female name?
Yes, 94.5% of people registered as Tola 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 Tola still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tola 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 Tola 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 have Tola as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.