Oley
Anglicized spelling of a French surname of German origin, meaning uncertain.
Name Census estimates that about 91 living Americans carry the first name Oley. It is a predominantly male name (98.7% of registrations). The average person named Oley today is around 78 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Oley births was 1922 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Oley. 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 Oley is about 78 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Oleys were born before 1958.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Oley. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
91
~ 1 in 3,766,531 Americans
Peak year
1922
15 babies that year
Average age
78
years old
1964 SSA rank
#3,519
Tracked since 1883
Census
Oley in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 162 people with the first name Oley, which placed it at #43,512 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
#43,512
National first-name rank
People counted
162
162 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
68.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Oley
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Oley is White at 68.5%. The next largest groups are Black (17.9%) and Two or More Races (6.8%). 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 Oley 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 Oley at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White68.5% · 111
- Black or African American17.9% · 29
- Two or more races6.8% · 11
- Hispanic or Latino2.5% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.9% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Oley
Oley leans heavily male at 98.7% of total registrations, but 5 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Oley as a male name
- Ranked #3,519 in 1964
- 7 male births in 1964
- Peak: 1922 (15 births)
Oley as a female name
- Ranked #4,055 in 1914
- 5 female births in 1914
- Peak: 1914 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Oley leans strongly male. 143 people counted with this name were male (89.4%), compared with 17 female bearers (10.6%).
Popularity
Oley: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Oley from the 1880s through to the 1960s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 104 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
Oley 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 Oley during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Oleys live
Origin
Meaning and history of Oley
The name Oley is believed to have its origins in the Old Norse language, originating in Scandinavia during the Viking Age (793-1066 AD). It is likely derived from the Old Norse word "ólafr," which means "ancestor's descendant." This name was popular among the Vikings and is thought to have been brought to other parts of Europe during their travels and conquests.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Oley can be found in the Icelandic Sagas, a collection of historical tales and myths written in the 13th and 14th centuries. In the Saga of Erik the Red, there is a character named Oley Thorvaldsson, a Viking explorer who accompanied Erik the Red on his voyage to Greenland.
During the Middle Ages, the name Oley gained popularity in some parts of Europe, particularly in Scandinavia and Germany. One notable individual with this name from this period was Oley Burman (1338-1390), a German theologian and philosopher who taught at the University of Prague.
In the 16th century, the name Oley appeared in the records of the English Reformation. Oley Saxthorpe (1515-1583) was an English Protestant clergyman and scholar who played a role in the translation of the Geneva Bible.
As Europeans began to explore and colonize the Americas, the name Oley also made its way across the Atlantic. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name in North America is that of Oley Winstrup (1623-1679), a Swedish settler who established a homestead in what is now Pennsylvania.
Another notable individual with the name Oley was Oley Hanson (1813-1891), a Norwegian-American businessman and politician who served as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly in the mid-19th century.
While less common today, the name Oley has persisted throughout history and across various cultures, reflecting its ancient Scandinavian roots and the journeys of those who bore this name.
People
Oley + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Oley 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
Oley: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Oley?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 91 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Oley 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 3,766,531 US residents.
Is Oley a common name?
We classify Oley as "Very Rare". It ranks above 63.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 378 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Oley most popular?
The single biggest year for Oley was 1922, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Oley is about 78 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Oley in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 162 people with the name Oley, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #43,512 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 Oley 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 Oley?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Oley leans strongly male. 143 people counted with this name were male (89.4%), compared with 17 female bearers (10.6%). 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 Oley?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Oley is White at 68.5%. The next largest groups are Black (17.9%) and Two or More Races (6.8%). 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 Oley most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Oley in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.5% (111 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 Oley in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Oley a male name?
Yes, 98.7% of people registered as Oley in the SSA data are male. 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 Oley still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Oley 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 Oley 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 Oley?
Find out how many Americans are named Oley on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.