Nolan is a name of Irish origin, derived from the Irish surname "O'Loughlin". This surname comes from the Gaelic word "Ua Lochlann", which means "descendant of Lochlann". Lochlann was a Norse chieftain who settled in Ireland and became the ancestor of the O'Loughlin clan.
The name Nolan has been used as both a first name and a surname throughout history. In some cases, it has been anglicized to other forms such as "Noland" or "Nolin".
One famous bearer of the name Nolan was Francis Gary Powers, the American pilot whose U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union in 1960. His capture and subsequent trial created an international incident.
Today, Nolan is used primarily as a first name for boys and has become quite popular in recent years. According to data from the Social Security Administration in the United States, it ranked as the 357th most common boy's name in 2018.
Overall, Nolan is a strong and distinctive Irish name with an interesting historical background that continues to be used today.
The name Nolan has seen a significant increase in popularity over the past century in the United States. While it was only given to five babies in 1911, its usage remained relatively low until the late 1980s and early 1990s when it started to gain traction.
In 1983, there were six births with the name Nolan, which doubled to twelve by 2010. The years between 2007 and 2016 marked a significant turning point for this name, with a steady increase in its usage each year. In fact, from 2004 to 2016, the number of babies named Nolan more than doubled, from nineteen to twenty-three births.
The popularity of Nolan has continued to grow since then, reaching an all-time high of thirty-six births in 2019 and thirty-five births in 2021. Even during the pandemic year of 2020, there were still twenty-eight babies named Nolan.
In total, from 1911 to 2023, there have been five hundred six births with the name Nolan in the United States, demonstrating its enduring popularity over time. This upward trend suggests that Nolan will continue to be a popular choice for parents looking for unique yet strong-sounding names for their sons.