Nolen
Nolen was given to 58 boys in 2025, #2,381 among boys’ names; 3,458 Americans have been recorded with it since 1892 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 2,550 Americans named Nolen and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (74% of everyone recorded); the median is 17 years old and half are between 10 and 28.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Nolen by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
How popular is Nolen?
#2,381 among boys’ names, 2025
Nolen fell from #1,749 in 2015 to #2,381 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 45.9 to 34.0 per million.
110 babies in 2009, the peak
Nolen peaked in 2009, when 110 boys were given it, #1,515 among boys’ names. The 58 births of 2025 are 53% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 58 | #2,381 | 34.0 |
| 2024 | 61 | #2,334 | 35.4 |
| 2023 | 52 | #2,569 | 30.4 |
| 2022 | 72 | #2,090 | 41.2 |
| 2021 | 69 | #2,102 | 39.4 |
| 2020 | 69 | #2,060 | 40.0 |
| 2019 | 79 | #1,895 | 44.0 |
| 2018 | 82 | #1,849 | 45.2 |
| 2017 | 72 | #1,995 | 38.9 |
| 2016 | 91 | #1,718 | 48.0 |
Every recorded year (118)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 88 | #1,749 | 45.9 |
| 2014 | 77 | #1,898 | 40.1 |
| 2013 | 79 | #1,822 | 41.8 |
| 2012 | 93 | #1,662 | 49.0 |
| 2011 | 82 | #1,774 | 43.2 |
| 2010 | 98 | #1,608 | 51.1 |
| 2009 | 110 | #1,515 | 55.5 |
| 2008 | 84 | #1,786 | 41.2 |
| 2007 | 98 | #1,604 | 47.2 |
| 2006 | 61 | #2,140 | 29.7 |
| 2005 | 58 | #2,118 | 29.0 |
| 2004 | 64 | #1,920 | 32.2 |
| 2003 | 45 | #2,379 | 22.8 |
| 2002 | 49 | #2,181 | 25.2 |
| 2001 | 45 | #2,264 | 23.2 |
| 2000 | 34 | #2,716 | 17.3 |
| 1999 | 28 | #2,996 | 14.6 |
| 1998 | 42 | #2,182 | 22.0 |
| 1997 | 24 | #3,125 | 12.7 |
| 1996 | 19 | #3,632 | 10.0 |
| 1995 | 15 | #4,207 | 7.9 |
| 1994 | 13 | #4,716 | 6.7 |
| 1993 | 21 | #3,211 | 10.7 |
| 1992 | 11 | #5,144 | 5.5 |
| 1991 | 23 | #2,883 | 11.4 |
| 1990 | 17 | #3,556 | 8.3 |
| 1989 | 14 | #3,953 | 7.0 |
| 1988 | 10 | #4,676 | 5.2 |
| 1987 | 10 | #4,475 | 5.4 |
| 1986 | 14 | #3,382 | 7.6 |
| 1985 | 13 | #3,540 | 7.0 |
| 1984 | 15 | #3,056 | 8.3 |
| 1983 | 14 | #3,184 | 7.8 |
| 1982 | 14 | #3,238 | 7.7 |
| 1981 | 19 | #2,550 | 10.6 |
| 1980 | 8 | #4,822 | 4.5 |
| 1979 | 13 | #3,303 | 7.6 |
| 1978 | 8 | #4,444 | 4.9 |
| 1977 | 9 | #4,065 | 5.5 |
| 1976 | 6 | #5,414 | 3.8 |
| 1975 | 6 | #5,265 | 3.8 |
| 1973 | 12 | #2,970 | 7.7 |
| 1972 | 6 | #4,807 | 3.7 |
| 1971 | 9 | #3,576 | 5.1 |
| 1970 | 6 | #4,574 | 3.2 |
| 1969 | 7 | #3,828 | 3.9 |
| 1968 | 16 | #2,083 | 9.2 |
| 1967 | 9 | #2,918 | 5.2 |
| 1966 | 7 | #3,450 | 3.9 |
| 1965 | 8 | #3,169 | 4.3 |
| 1964 | 9 | #2,994 | 4.5 |
| 1963 | 6 | #3,907 | 3.0 |
| 1962 | 15 | #2,163 | 7.3 |
| 1961 | 12 | #2,500 | 5.6 |
| 1960 | 6 | #3,941 | 2.8 |
| 1959 | 20 | #1,845 | 9.4 |
| 1958 | 7 | #3,484 | 3.3 |
| 1957 | 10 | #2,773 | 4.6 |
| 1956 | 23 | #1,669 | 10.9 |
| 1955 | 21 | #1,713 | 10.2 |
| 1954 | 16 | #2,023 | 7.8 |
| 1953 | 10 | #2,663 | 5.1 |
| 1952 | 20 | #1,729 | 10.3 |
| 1951 | 17 | #1,885 | 9.0 |
| 1950 | 16 | #1,930 | 8.9 |
| 1949 | 17 | #1,858 | 9.6 |
| 1948 | 21 | #1,642 | 12.0 |
| 1947 | 22 | #1,633 | 12.0 |
| 1946 | 18 | #1,735 | 11.1 |
| 1945 | 15 | #1,831 | 11.1 |
| 1944 | 20 | #1,564 | 14.7 |
| 1943 | 17 | #1,808 | 11.9 |
| 1942 | 15 | #1,924 | 10.9 |
| 1941 | 21 | #1,514 | 17.1 |
| 1940 | 24 | #1,391 | 20.7 |
| 1939 | 22 | #1,449 | 19.9 |
| 1938 | 26 | #1,328 | 23.4 |
| 1937 | 17 | #1,730 | 15.9 |
| 1936 | 12 | #2,146 | 11.6 |
| 1935 | 19 | #1,638 | 18.2 |
| 1934 | 26 | #1,347 | 25.2 |
| 1933 | 30 | #1,221 | 30.3 |
| 1932 | 26 | #1,372 | 24.9 |
| 1931 | 15 | #1,979 | 14.4 |
| 1930 | 28 | #1,388 | 25.5 |
| 1929 | 28 | #1,370 | 26.0 |
| 1928 | 19 | #1,806 | 17.2 |
| 1927 | 22 | #1,683 | 19.5 |
| 1926 | 24 | #1,552 | 21.6 |
| 1925 | 30 | #1,352 | 26.9 |
| 1924 | 36 | #1,217 | 31.8 |
| 1923 | 36 | #1,207 | 32.8 |
| 1922 | 25 | #1,536 | 23.0 |
| 1921 | 32 | #1,315 | 29.1 |
| 1920 | 35 | #1,229 | 32.9 |
| 1919 | 35 | #1,203 | 35.7 |
| 1918 | 26 | #1,434 | 25.7 |
| 1917 | 24 | #1,471 | 25.9 |
| 1916 | 28 | #1,293 | 31.5 |
| 1915 | 27 | #1,295 | 31.8 |
| 1914 | 15 | #1,661 | 22.9 |
| 1913 | 15 | #1,421 | 29.3 |
| 1912 | 6 | #2,470 | 14.0 |
| 1911 | 7 | #1,493 | 31.0 |
| 1909 | 5 | #1,625 | 30.5 |
| 1907 | 6 | #1,293 | 40.9 |
| 1900 | 5 | #1,442 | 33.2 |
| 1892 | 7 | #924 | 57.4 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Nolen a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Nolen has been given almost only to boys: 10 girls in 118 years of records.
Girls and boys named Nolen: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Nolen, and how old are they?
2,550 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 74% of the 3,458 Americans ever recorded as Nolen. The median Nolen alive today is 17 years old; half are between 10 and 28.
The 2020 Census counted 2,096 people named Nolen (49 women and girls, 2,047 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 2,285 born in the U.S. The Census count is 8% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 68 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 183 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 115 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 230 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 1,000 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 952 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Nolen born?
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 6 | #2,482 | 0.5× |
| North Carolina | 5 | #1,416 | 0.4× |
Where Nolen is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Nolen is most over-represented in Alabama: since 1910 it was given 1.6 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Nolen with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 7 names spelled alike, given to 141,402 babies since 1880, Nolen is the second most given (2.4% of them). In 2025 it was given to 58 of their 4,970 babies (1.2%), again the second most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Nolen
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Nolen and names like it
- Compare Nolen and NolanBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2000sNolen peaked in 2009.
- Texas’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Nolen since 1910.
- The top names of 2009The year the most babies were named Nolen.
- The names of Generation ZMost people named Nolen alive today were born 1997-2012.
- Names starting with NMost given first.