Iola
Iola is a name with a single cultural origin: English.
- English
Meaning & Origin of Iola
What this name means, where it came from, and how it has traveled across cultures.
Iola is a name with a single cultural origin: English.
Origin data from Behind the Name .
Cultural Origins (via Behind the Name)
- English
The Story of Iola
The earliest SSA record of Iola as a baby girl name dates back to 1880, when 15 babies received it. 1918 was its biggest year on record, with 368 newborns named Iola — #339 in the national rankings. About 26% of every Iola on record arrived during the 1920s, its defining decade. Iola last appeared in the published SSA data in 2024, with 8 recorded births — it has not charted nationally since. All told, over 10K Americans have carried the name since 1880, from the 1880s to the 2020s.
Popularity Over Time
Popularity by State
Names that sound like Iola
Phonetically similar names — useful when Iola is the vibe but a different syllable count or letter feel might suit better. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.
Source: Datamuse . Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated.
Frequently Asked Questions about Iola
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About the name Iola
Iola is a girl baby name tracked by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It first appeared in SSA records in 1880 and has accumulated 10K births in the dataset. Iola's peak popularity came in 1918 when it ranked #339. Use the chart and map above to compare Iola's trajectory across years and U.S. states, or browse the related names section to discover similar choices.
Continue exploring
- Top names of 1918 →
- Names of the 1910s →
- Names starting with "I" →
- Browse all girl names →
- Top names of 2026 →
Data sources
- Birth statistics (counts, ranks, years 1880–2026) — U.S. Social Security Administration . Predictions for years not yet released by SSA are computed by Peek a Name from historical trends; we update with official data as soon as it ships.
- Etymology, cultural origins, and related forms — Behind the Name (used under their public API terms).
- Meaning prose and editorial summary — Wikipedia article extracts, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 .
- Predicted nationality distribution — Nationalize.io .
- Phonetically similar names — Datamuse .
Peek a Name aggregates and presents the above data for informational purposes. Statistical predictions and external attributions are clearly labelled where shown; we make no guarantee of accuracy beyond what each source provides.