Nolan

boys’ nameComebackCompare

Nolan is ranked 64th among boys in 2024 (4,888 births). Its best rank was 57th, in 2023.

Rank in 2024: #64down 7 from 2023
Births in 2024: 4,8880.28% of boys
Peak year: 20155,739 births
Best rank: #57in 2023
Since 1881: 130,624people given the name

Babies named Nolan, by year of birthboys

The story in the numbers

130,624 boys have been named Nolan in the United States since 1881, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 2015, with 5,739 births — 0.30% of all boys recorded that year.

This is a comeback. After an early peak the name fell to a fraction of its former share, and it has been climbing again for the past decade.

Half of everyone given the name was born by 2012, and the 2010s alone account for 38%. It has spent 135 of 145 years in the top 1,000, 14 of them in the top 100.

Rank among boys, year by year

Higher on the chart = more popularrank (gaps = outside the top 1,000)

By decade

Decade	boys named Nolan
1880s	31
1890s	75
1900s	174
1910s	1,021
1920s	1,674
1930s	1,822
1940s	2,004
1950s	1,960
1960s	1,493
1970s	2,006
1980s	4,679
1990s	11,790
2000s	26,372
2010s	50,038
2020s	25,485

In 2015, its biggest year

Nolan was the 71st most given boy’s name that year. The top five boys’ names of 2015 were Noah, Liam, Mason, Jacob and William. See all of 2015.

Names that rose and fell with Nolan

Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.

What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.