Jolisa
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly a combination of Jolie and Lisa.
Name Census estimates that about 787 living Americans carry the first name Jolisa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jolisa today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jolisa births was 1989 (70 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jolisa. 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
787
~ 1 in 435,520 Americans
Peak year
1989
70 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,542
Tracked since 1960
Census
Jolisa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 723 people with the first name Jolisa, which placed it at #15,793 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
#15,793
National first-name rank
People counted
723
723 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
39.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jolisa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jolisa is Black at 39.7%. The next largest groups are White (29.2%) and Hispanic (23.1%). 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 Jolisa 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 Jolisa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American39.7% · 287
- White29.2% · 211
- Hispanic or Latino23.1% · 167
- Two or more races5.3% · 38
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 9
Popularity
Jolisa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jolisa from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 287 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jolisa 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 Jolisa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jolisas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. Indiana, Florida, California recorded the most babies named Jolisa, while Virginia, Texas, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jolisa
The name Jolisa has its origins in the Bantu languages of Central and Southern Africa, particularly in the region now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The earliest recorded use of the name dates back to the 16th century, where it was derived from the Lingala word "jolisa," meaning "to beautify" or "to adorn."
In the ancient Kongo Kingdom, which flourished from the 14th to the 19th century, the name Jolisa was often given to girls born during times of celebration or to commemorate significant events. It was believed that the name would bestow upon the child a sense of beauty and grace, both in physical appearance and in character.
One of the earliest recorded historical figures bearing the name Jolisa was a princess of the Kongo Kingdom, born in the late 15th century. Her name was Jolisa Nzinga, and she was renowned for her intelligence, diplomacy, and determination in preserving the kingdom's sovereignty during a period of Portuguese colonial expansion.
Another notable figure was Jolisa Kamba, a celebrated artist and sculptor from the 18th century, whose intricate wooden carvings depicting scenes from daily life in the Kongo Kingdom are now housed in museums around the world. Her works are considered a significant contribution to the cultural heritage of the region.
In the 19th century, Jolisa Makeba was a prominent figure in the resistance against Belgian colonial rule in the Congo Free State. She was a fierce advocate for the rights of her people and played a pivotal role in organizing protests and rallies against the brutal exploitation and mistreatment of the Congolese population.
During the 20th century, the name Jolisa gained wider recognition and popularity outside of its African origins. One notable individual was Jolisa Jennings, an American civil rights activist born in 1923, who participated in the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Selma to Montgomery marches alongside Martin Luther King Jr.
Another individual of note was Jolisa Makazole, a South African writer and poet born in 1945, whose works explored themes of identity, struggle, and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of apartheid. Her poetry collections, such as "Voices from the Dust," have been widely acclaimed and translated into multiple languages.
While the name Jolisa has its roots in the Bantu languages of Central and Southern Africa, its meaning and significance have transcended cultural boundaries, becoming a symbol of beauty, resilience, and strength in diverse communities around the world.
People
Jolisa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jolisa as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with J
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Jolisa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jolisa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 787 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jolisa 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 435,520 US residents.
Is Jolisa a common name?
We classify Jolisa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 815 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jolisa most popular?
The single biggest year for Jolisa was 1989, when 70 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jolisa is about 28 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jolisa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 723 people with the name Jolisa, or 0.24 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,793 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 Jolisa 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 Jolisa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jolisa appears almost entirely female. Of the 725 people counted with this name, 99.4% 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 Jolisa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jolisa is Black at 39.7%. The next largest groups are White (29.2%) and Hispanic (23.1%). 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 Jolisa most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Jolisa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 39.7% (287 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 Jolisa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jolisa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jolisa 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 Jolisa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jolisa 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 Jolisa 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 are named Jolisa?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.