Nola
Nola is a girls' name of Irish origin meaning “famous, noble; white shoulder.” It ranked #822 in the United States in 2025. Likely a diminutive of Finola or Fionnuala, from Irish 'fionn' (white, fair) and 'guala' (shoulder), meaning…
how do you pronounce Nola?
NOH-lah
Hear it spoken aloud with our AI pronunciation tool.
what does Nola mean?
The name Nola means “famous, noble; white shoulder.” It comes from the Irish language tradition.
Likely a diminutive of Finola or Fionnuala, from Irish 'fionn' (white, fair) and 'guala' (shoulder), meaning fair-shouldered. It also evokes New Orleans, Louisiana (often called NOLA), adding a jazzy, Southern charm.
where does the name Nola come from?
Wiktionary derives Nola from Finola, and notes that in the US the name is also shaped by the influence of the male name Nolan. It does not spell out the fair-shouldered breakdown (fionn plus guala) sometimes given for Finola, so that specific compound isn't confirmed here. A second Wiktionary sense retrieved for Nola discusses an unrelated word possibly linked to a reconstructed root nowos, which reads as a different (likely geographic/Italian) Nola and is disregarded as a false match.
the history of Nola
Wikipedia's entry is only a list of notable people named Nola and gives no derivation or historical background, so nothing further can be added here.
how popular is this name?
| Year | Rank |
|---|---|
| 2025 | #822 |
| 2024 | #765 |
| 2023 | #740 |
| 2022 | #627 |
| 2021 | #596 |
| 2020 | #553 |
Source: SSA National Baby Names Dataset
what are the nicknames and variants of Nola?
Variants around the world
who are famous people named Nola?
- Nola Darling (Spike Lee's She's Gotta Have It character)
what names are similar to Nola?
what names go well with Nola?
Sibling names that share Nola's rhythm and register without echoing it too closely.
Last reviewed April 30, 2026 · Curated by HushName editorial
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