Damilola
A Yoruba name meaning "rich crown surrounds me with wealth".
Name Census estimates that about 239 living Americans carry the first name Damilola. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 80.2% of registrations being female. The average person named Damilola today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Damilola births was 2012 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Damilola. 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 Damilola with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
239
~ 1 in 1,434,119 Americans
Peak year
2012
14 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2023 SSA rank
#12,619
Tracked since 1989
Census
Damilola in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 896 people with the first name Damilola, which placed it at #13,457 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
#13,457
National first-name rank
People counted
896
896 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
96.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Damilola
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Damilola is Black at 96.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.8%) and White (1.5%). 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 Damilola 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 Damilola at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American96.1% · 861
- Two or more races1.8% · 16
- White1.5% · 13
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 4
- Hispanic or Latino0.2% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Damilola
Damilola leans heavily female at 80.2% of total registrations, but 48 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Damilola as a male name
- Ranked #12,619 in 2023
- 5 male births in 2023
- Peak: 1998 (7 births)
Damilola as a female name
- Ranked #13,832 in 2023
- 6 female births in 2023
- Peak: 2005 (13 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Damilola on both sides of the split. Of the 891 people counted with this name, 289 were male (32.4%) and 602 were female (67.6%).
Popularity
Damilola: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Damilola from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 88 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Damilola 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 Damilola during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Damilolas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Damilola
Damilola is a Yoruba name originating from southwestern Nigeria. It is a compound name derived from the Yoruba words "dami" and "ola", which together mean "wealth comes from God" or "wealth acquired from God's grace". The name can be traced back to the Yoruba people of West Africa, who have a rich cultural heritage dating back centuries.
The Yoruba language is one of the most widely spoken languages in Nigeria and is also used in parts of Benin, Togo, and other neighboring countries. The name Damilola gained popularity among the Yoruba people as a way to express gratitude for wealth and prosperity, which were highly valued in their society.
While there are no direct historical references to the name Damilola in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is believed to have been in use among the Yoruba people for several centuries. The earliest recorded examples of the name are found in family records and oral traditions passed down through generations.
One of the earliest known people to bear the name Damilola was Damilola Olowu, a Yoruba chief and influential figure who lived in the late 18th century. He was renowned for his wisdom, leadership, and contribution to the development of his community.
Another notable bearer of the name Damilola was Damilola Adekeye (1908-1989), a Nigerian educator and advocate for women's rights. She played a crucial role in establishing several schools and educational institutions in Nigeria, empowering women and promoting equal access to education.
In more recent times, Damilola Taylor (1989-2000) became a household name in the United Kingdom after his tragic death at the age of 10. He was a Nigerian-born British boy who was fatally injured in a racially motivated attack in Peckham, London. His story sparked nationwide outrage and led to significant changes in legislation and policies aimed at addressing youth violence and racial discrimination.
Another prominent figure with the name Damilola is Damilola Ogunbiyi (born 1971), a Nigerian energy expert and sustainable development advocate. She has held various leadership positions in international organizations, including the United Nations, and has been recognized for her efforts in promoting access to clean energy and addressing climate change.
Damilola Oparinde (born 1987) is a Nigerian-American actress and model known for her roles in television series such as "Supernatural" and "Dynasty". She has also been celebrated for her advocacy work in promoting diversity and representation in the entertainment industry.
People
Damilola + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Damilola as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with D
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Damilola: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Damilola?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 239 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Damilola 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 1,434,119 US residents.
Is Damilola a common name?
We classify Damilola as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 242 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Damilola most popular?
The single biggest year for Damilola was 2012, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Damilola is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Damilola in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 896 people with the name Damilola, or 0.30 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,457 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 Damilola 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 Damilola?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Damilola on both sides of the split. Of the 891 people counted with this name, 289 were male (32.4%) and 602 were female (67.6%). 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 Damilola?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Damilola is Black at 96.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.8%) and White (1.5%). 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 Damilola most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Damilola in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.1% (861 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 Damilola in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Damilola a female name?
Yes, 80.2% of people registered as Damilola 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 Damilola still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Damilola 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 Damilola 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 Damilola?
Find out how many people share the name Damilola on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.