Lola

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 19 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Lola is also recorded as 4 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• a separate given name12K records spelled Lola2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, India, United Kingdom, Canada

  Also written Lôla

• Indonesian given name7.2K records spelled Lola5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, United States, Nigeria, Spain

  Also written 'Lola, Lôlâ, Lolá

• Finnish given name3.2K records spelled Lola32 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Finland, Hungary, United States, Spain

  Languages: Finnish, Hungarian, Estonian

  Also written Lõla, Lõlâ, Lolá, Lõlå, Lôla

• Lao given name1.8K records spelled Lola8 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Laos, United States, Thailand, Spain

  Languages: Lao, Thai

  Also written โลลา, โลล่า, โล้ลา, โล่ล่า, Lolä

73 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Lola is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• Guinea town; also Hawaiian/Spanish name forms meaning 'crowned with laurels' / 'full-grown, strong'.

  as a name·African Names

• In French, Short form of Dolores; from Spanish dolor, 'pain, sorrow'.

  as a name·Le grand guide des prénoms (Enfant - Education)

• In Spanish, a diminutive of the female given name Dolores, from Old Spanish

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In French, Diminutif de Dolores; origine latine, « douleur ».

  as a name·Le grand guide des prénoms (Enfant - Education)

• In French, Diminutif de Dolores; souvent associé à la Vierge des Douleurs.

  as a name·Dictionnaire généalogique des prénoms

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melob. 1699PTnot in their usual namePortuguese noble and diplomat (1699–1782)
• Lola Montezb. 1821IEIrish dancer and actress (1821–1861)
• Lola Falanab. 1942USAmerican singer, dancer, and actress
• Lola Dueñasb. 1971ESSpanish actress
• Lola Glaudinib. 1971USAmerican actress
• Lola Pagnanib. 1972ITItalian actress
• Lola Karimova-Tillyaevab. 1978UZUzbekistani diplomat
• Lola Dewaereb. 1979FRFrench actress
• Lola Kirkeb. 1990USEnglish-born American actress
• Lola Bessisb. 1992FRFrench actress and film director

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,421 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Lola?

We estimate roughly 151 thousand people bear Lola (counting its spellings and scripts) across 10 countries in our records.

In which country does Lola have the most bearers?

Lola is most frequently recorded in Argentina, where it is most often spelled lola.

Where is Lola most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Lola is densest in France — about 1 in 876 people — even though Argentina holds more of our records for it.

How common is Lola compared with other names?

In Argentina, Lola is the 535th most common given name of 517,176 given names recorded there.

Is Lola a male or female name?

Lola is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Lola mean?

Recorded meaning: Common hypocoristic of Dolores; in Sicily also a short form of Lorenza.