Olli
A diminutive of Oliver, from the Old French name Olivier meaning "olive tree".
Name Census estimates that about 54 living Americans carry the first name Olli. It is a predominantly male name (90.7% of registrations). The average person named Olli today is around 6 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Olli births was 2020 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Olli. 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 Olli with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Olli. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
54
~ 1 in 6,347,303 Americans
Peak year
2020
8 babies that year
Average age
6
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,907
Tracked since 2015
Gender
Gender distribution for Olli
Olli leans heavily male at 90.7% of total registrations, but 5 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Olli as a male name
- Ranked #11,907 in 2024
- 6 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2020 (8 births)
Olli as a female name
- Ranked #17,775 in 2017
- 5 female births in 2017
- Peak: 2017 (5 births)
Popularity
Olli: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Olli from the 2010s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 30 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Olli 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 Olli during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Olli
The name Olli is derived from the Old Norse name Óláfr, which was a popular name among the Vikings and Scandinavian settlers in the Middle Ages. The name is composed of two elements: "ó" meaning "ancestor" and "láfr" meaning "descendant" or "heir".
The earliest recorded usage of the name dates back to the 9th century, when it was borne by several kings and noblemen in Norse and Icelandic sagas. One of the most famous bearers of the name was Olaf II Haraldsson, also known as St. Olaf, who was the King of Norway from 1015 to 1028. He played a pivotal role in converting Norway to Christianity and is revered as the patron saint of the country.
In the 12th century, the name gained popularity across Europe as a result of the Christianization of Scandinavia. It was adopted in various forms, such as Olav, Olavi, and Olof, in countries like Sweden, Finland, and Estonia. One notable bearer of the name was Olavi Maununpoika, a 13th-century Finnish bishop and saint.
During the Middle Ages, the name Olli was also used in parts of Germany and the Netherlands, where it was likely influenced by its Norse roots. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name in these regions was Olli von Burgsteinfurt, a 13th-century German nobleman and crusader.
In the 16th century, the name appeared in historical records in England, where it was sometimes anglicized as Olly or Olle. One of the most famous bearers of the name during this period was Olle Hartman, a Swedish-born merchant and explorer who settled in England in the 1560s and played a role in the establishment of the English East India Company.
Another notable bearer of the name Olli was Olli Jalonen, a 19th-century Finnish poet and writer who was a pioneer of the Finnish national romantic movement. His works helped shape the Finnish literary canon and contributed to the development of the Finnish language and cultural identity.
People
Olli + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Olli 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
Olli: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Olli?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 54 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Olli 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 6,347,303 US residents.
Is Olli a common name?
We classify Olli as "Very Rare". It ranks above 55.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 54 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Olli most popular?
The single biggest year for Olli was 2020, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Olli is about 6 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Olli in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Olli a male name?
Yes, 90.7% of people registered as Olli 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 Olli still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Olli 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 Olli 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are called Olli?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.