Yolonda
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly a blend of names.
Name Census estimates that about 3,254 living Americans carry the first name Yolonda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Yolonda today is around 55 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yolonda births was 1972 (188 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yolonda. 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.
People living today
3.3K
~ 1 in 105,333 Americans
Peak year
1972
188 babies that year
Average age
55
years old
2006 SSA rank
#19,983
Tracked since 1923
Census
Yolonda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,189 people with the first name Yolonda, which placed it at #5,398 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
#5,398
National first-name rank
People counted
3.2K
3,189 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
68.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Yolonda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yolonda is Black at 68.2%. The next largest groups are White (15.8%) and Hispanic (11.2%). 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 Yolonda 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 Yolonda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American68.2% · 2,175
- White15.8% · 505
- Hispanic or Latino11.2% · 357
- Two or more races3.3% · 106
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 36
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 10
Popularity
Yolonda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yolonda from the 1920s through to the 2000s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 1,375 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Yolonda 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 Yolonda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Yolondas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 24 states and territories. California, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Yolonda, while Oklahoma, Virginia, Kentucky recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 84 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Yolonda
The name Yolonda is derived from the French name Yolande, which in turn comes from the Germanic name Yolanda. The Germanic name is a compound of the elements "geu" (a battle cry) and "landa" (land or territory), effectively meaning "violet land" or "violet territory."
The name Yolande first gained popularity in the Middle Ages, particularly in France and other parts of Western Europe. One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name was Yolande of Aragon (1384-1442), a Countess of Aragon and Queen consort of Aragon and Sardinia through her marriage to King John I.
Another notable historical figure with the name was Yolande of Anjou (1412-1440), Duchess of Anjou and Countess of Provence. She played a significant role in the Hundred Years' War, supporting the French Dauphin Charles VII against the English.
In the 16th century, Yolande of Valois (1498-1524), Duchess of Lorraine, was a prominent figure in the French court. She was known for her patronage of the arts and her support of the Renaissance movement.
The name Yolonda, with a slightly different spelling, also has historical roots. One notable bearer was Yolonda Betbeze (1923-1997), an American artist and educator known for her abstract expressionist paintings.
Another historical figure with the name Yolonda was Yolonda Modesta Hughes Richardson (1910-1996), an African American educator and civil rights activist who played a significant role in desegregating schools in Washington, D.C.
While the name Yolande or Yolonda has been less common in recent decades, it has a rich history spanning several centuries and various cultural contexts, from European royalty to influential artists and activists.
People
Yolonda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yolonda as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with Y
Other first names starting with Y with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Yolonda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yolonda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,254 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yolonda 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 105,333 US residents.
Is Yolonda a common name?
We classify Yolonda as "Rare". It ranks above 95.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,874 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yolonda most popular?
The single biggest year for Yolonda was 1972, when 188 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yolonda is about 55 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Yolonda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,189 people with the name Yolonda, or 1.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,398 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 Yolonda 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 Yolonda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Yolonda appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,190 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Yolonda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yolonda is Black at 68.2%. The next largest groups are White (15.8%) and Hispanic (11.2%). 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 Yolonda most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Yolonda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.2% (2,175 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 Yolonda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yolonda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Yolonda 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 Yolonda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yolonda 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 Yolonda 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 share the name Yolonda?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.