How Many People Are Named Iola?
An estimated 1,276 people in the United States have the first name Iola. It is almost exclusively a female name. The average bearer is 70 years old, and Iola peaked in popularity in 1918 with 368 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Iola as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Iola paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- With an average bearer age of 70, Iola is a vintage name most associated with earlier generations. Most living bearers were born before 1966.
Estimated Living Americans
1,276
About 1 in 268,616 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Rare
Predicted Gender
Female
100.0% confidence
Average Age
70
years old
Peak Year
1918
368 births
Total Registered
9,652
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Iola
Iola is almost exclusively a female name. Out of 9,652 total births registered, 100.0% were female.
Iola as a female name
Ranked #11,461 in 2024
8 female births in 2024
Peak: 1918 (368 births)
Iola: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Iola span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 14 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1920s, when 2,546 babies were registered. Iola has declined significantly from its peak in the 1920s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Iola by Decade
How has Iola tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
Iola by State
Birth registrations for Iola span all 39 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in Alabama, North Carolina, Texas. The lowest are in Maine, Maryland, West Virginia. On average, about 136 Iolas were registered per state.
Iola + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Iola as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Iola
Other first names starting with I with a similar number of bearers.
Iola: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Iola?
We estimate approximately 1,276 people named Iola are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 268,616 Americans share this first name.
Is Iola a common name?
Iola is classified as "Rare" and is more popular than 91.6% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 9,652 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Iola most popular?
Iola reached peak popularity in 1918, when 368 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Iola is approximately 70 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Iola a female name?
Iola is predominantly female. 100.0% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Iola Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Iola Smith, Iola Johnson, Iola Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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