Nola

• Origin: English
• Meaning: unknown
• Gender: Female
• (NOH-lah)
• Variations: Noleen, Noline, Nolene (Afrikaans)

The name is of uncertain origin and meaning but first came into use in North America in the early 19th century. It is likely a contracted form of a longer name. It has sometimes been considered a diminutive of Finola, the Anglicized form of the Irish Fionnuala, or alternatively a feminine form of Noll, an old diminutive of Oliver, as well as a contracted form of the much more rarer Magnolia, which also had use in the 19th-century.

Nola is also the name of an ancient city in Campania, Italy, near Naples. The place-name derives from Oscan Nuvla or Novla, meaning “new city,” from the Italic root meaning “new.” The city was known by this name before its incorporation into the Roman world, when the name became Latin Nola. Place-names were fairly common towards the end of the 18th-century well into the 19th-century so it is possible the name could have derived from this, but this is only speculation on my part.

Nola is also the name of a genus of moths in the family Nolidae, established by British zoologist William Elford Leach in 1815. The genus is believed to have been named after the ancient Italian city of Nola.

It is also used as an acronym for the city of New Orleans.

The name became particularly popular in New Zealand during the early 20th century. Between 1915 and 1943, Nola regularly ranked among the country’s Top 100 female names, reaching its highest position at #20 in 1927 and again in 1929.

More recently, Nola has become fashionable in the Netherlands. It entered the Dutch Top 100 in 2020 and currently ranks at #99 (2025).

In the United States, Nola appeared in the Top 1000 from 1880 until 1964, reaching its highest position at #249 in 1894. After disappearing from the Top 1000 between 1965 and 2007, it returned in 2008. It currently ranks at #821 (2025).

Nola has also undergone a considerable revival in England & Wales, where it first entered the modern rankings in the 2010s. It reached #206 in 2021 and currently ranks at #275 (2025).

It has also had minor use in France, where it appeared among the Top 1000, peaking at #232 in 2019.

Sources

• https://www.behindthename.com/name/nola
• https://www.behindthename.com/name/nolene
• http://www.findagrave.com
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nola