Oleta
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly derived from the Spanish name "Loleta".
Name Census estimates that about 830 living Americans carry the first name Oleta. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Oleta today is around 74 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Oleta births was 1920 (216 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Oleta. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Oleta is about 74 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Oletas were born before 1962.
People living today
830
~ 1 in 412,957 Americans
Peak year
1920
216 babies that year
Average age
74
years old
2021 SSA rank
#13,137
Tracked since 1888
Census
Oleta in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,258 people with the first name Oleta, which placed it at #10,538 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
#10,538
National first-name rank
People counted
1.3K
1,258 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
84.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Oleta
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Oleta is White at 84.4%. The next largest groups are Black (6.4%) and Two or More Races (4.1%). 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 Oleta 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 Oleta at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White84.4% · 1,062
- Black or African American6.4% · 80
- Two or more races4.1% · 52
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.2% · 40
- Hispanic or Latino1.6% · 20
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 4
Popularity
Oleta: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Oleta from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 1,674 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Oleta 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 Oleta during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Oletas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 19 states and territories. Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas recorded the most babies named Oleta, while Virginia, Nebraska, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 186 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Oleta
The name Oleta has its origins in the Latin language, derived from the feminine form of the word "oletus," which means "little oil." It's believed to have emerged during the medieval period, particularly in regions where Latin was widely spoken or studied, such as parts of Italy, France, and Spain.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Oleta can be traced back to the 12th century, appearing in a historical document from the city of Verona, Italy. The document referred to a woman named Oleta Brunelli, who was a member of a prominent noble family during that era.
In the 13th century, the name Oleta gained some recognition in religious circles, with a nun by the name of Oleta di Montefalco (1268-1308) becoming known for her piety and charitable works. She was later canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church.
During the Renaissance period, the name Oleta saw a resurgence in popularity, particularly among the artistic and literary circles of Italy. One notable figure from this time was Oleta Piccolomini (1504-1568), an Italian noblewoman and patron of the arts, who supported and commissioned works from renowned artists such as Raphael and Michelangelo.
In the 17th century, Oleta Valeria (1620-1687), an Italian philosopher and writer, gained recognition for her treatises on ethics and metaphysics, which were widely read and discussed within academic circles of the time.
As the name spread beyond its Latin roots, it found its way into other cultures and languages. In the 18th century, Oleta Kovalevskaya (1745-1828), a Russian mathematician and educator, made significant contributions to the field of calculus and helped pave the way for women in academia.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Oleta, showcasing its diverse cultural and linguistic roots, as well as its enduring presence across various eras and fields of endeavor.
People
Oleta + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Oleta as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with O
Other first names starting with O with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Oleta: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Oleta?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 830 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Oleta 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 412,957 US residents.
Is Oleta a common name?
We classify Oleta as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,472 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Oleta most popular?
The single biggest year for Oleta was 1920, when 216 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Oleta is about 74 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Oleta in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,258 people with the name Oleta, or 0.42 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,538 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 Oleta 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 Oleta?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Oleta appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,263 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 Oleta?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Oleta is White at 84.4%. The next largest groups are Black (6.4%) and Two or More Races (4.1%). 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 Oleta most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Oleta in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.4% (1,062 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 Oleta in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Oleta a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Oleta 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 Oleta still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Oleta 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 Oleta 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 called Oleta?
You can see how many Americans are named Oleta on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.