Holding steady.
Popularity of Neola since 1888
Babies named Neola per year in U.S. Social Security records. Raw births topped out in 1918, but relative to how few babies were recorded back then, Neola's real moment was 1905.
Data table (by decade)
| Decade | Girls |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 15 |
| 1890s | 24 |
| 1900s | 94 |
| 1910s | 258 |
| 1920s | 310 |
| 1930s | 182 |
| 1940s | 87 |
| 1950s | 34 |
| 1960s | 0 |
| 1970s | 0 |
| 1980s | 0 |
| 1990s | 0 |
| 2000s | 0 |
| 2010s | 5 |
| 2020s | 5 |
Meaning & origin
Neola is a rare early-20th-century name that first appeared in U.S. records in 1888. It reached its peak popularity in 1905, a year when the name saw its highest recorded usage. Since then, its trajectory has been stable but low, with fewer than five births per year in recent decades. The name likely emerged from the fashionable trend of the era, which favored feminine names ending in 'la' and sometimes incorporated scholarly prefixes like 'neo.' In the 1900s decade, Neola was one of many such invented names, but it never achieved widespread use. Today, it remains a distinctive choice for parents seeking a vintage rarity with a modern-sounding twist.
Neola appears to be a 19th-century coinage, likely formed from the Greek-derived prefix 'neo-' (new) combined with the popular feminine suffix '-la'. It may also have been influenced by names like Nola or Nelia. The name first appeared in U.S. records around 1888 and saw modest use in the early 1900s, peaking in 1905, but has since become rare.
Nicknames & variants
Nicknames: Nea, Nell, Neo
Sibling names for Neola
Names that share Neola's style, for a brother or sister.
