Ole vs Oletha

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Ole Oletha

Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.

Who was ahead

Of the 133 years in which either name was published, Ole for 96 years and Oletha for 37 years. The lead changed hands 28 times.

• 1880–1918 Ole ahead, apart from one short spell
• 1919–1945 Oletha ahead, apart from 2 short spells
• 1946–1956 Ole ahead, apart from one short spell
• 1972–1974 Oletha ahead
• 1975–2025 Ole ahead

20 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.

Side by side

A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.

Which name is older

Half of the Olethas alive today are over 67; half the Oles are over 39. That is 28 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Where each one is strongest

• Ole North Dakota (79.7×), Minnesota (30.9×)
• Oletha Oklahoma (29.4×), Texas (6.5×)

How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

• Ole vs Olen
• Ole vs Oleta
• Ole vs Olevia
• Ole vs Olene
• Ole vs Olena
• Oletha vs Olen
• Oletha vs Oleta
• Oletha vs Olevia