Ole

Spellings & scripts●

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 13 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◐

Ole is also recorded as 5 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• German given name59K records spelled Ole26 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Germany, United States, Netherlands, Norway

  Languages: German, English, Western Frisian

  Also written Oele, Olé, Öle, Ol'E, Òle

• a separate given name11K records spelled Ole6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Norway, United States, Canada, Sweden

  Also written Öle, Ôlê, Olê, Olé, Ọlê

• a separate given name2.5K records spelled Ole3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Norway, United States, India, Sweden

  Also written Ólé, Olé

• French given name2.2K records spelled Ole5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, Norway, United States, Spain

  Languages: French, Catalan

  Also written Olè, Ôlé, Öle

• Russian given name858 records spelled Ole17 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Russia, Ukraine, Türkiye, Norway

  Languages: Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian

  Also written Оле, Иле, Уле, Олэ, Илё

65 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●

Ole 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.

• In Swedish, Ole är en dansk form av → Olav, under senare århundraden också vanlig i Norge. I den finlandssvenska almanackan 29 juli. -olf → Ulf-, -olf, -ulf

  as a name·Förnamn i Sverige. Kortfattat namnlexikon

• In frp, Alternative form of âla (“wing”) documented in the following location(s): Belleroche

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

• In enm, alternative form of hol (“healthy, whole”)

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

• In Latin, second-person singular present active imperative of oleō

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

• In English, An interjection used to stir up excitement.

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

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) — 132 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●

• Ole Rømerb. 1644DKDanish astronomer (*1644 – †1710)
• Ole Kirk Christiansenb. 1891DKDanish businessman (1891-1958)
• Thorbjørn Svenssenb. 1924NOnot in their usual nameNorwegian association football player (1924-2011)
• Ole Henrik Maggab. 1947NOSámi linguist from Norway
• Hans Ole Bornedalb. 1959DKDanish film director
• Ole Gunnar Solskjærb. 1973NONorwegian association football manager
• Ole Einar Bjørndalenb. 1974NONorwegian biathlete and cross-country skier
• Ole Bischofb. 1979DEGerman judoka
• Ole Wernerb. 1988DEGerman association football player and manager
• Ole Kristian Selnæsb. 1994NONorwegian footballer

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 · 447 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Ole?

We estimate roughly 85 thousand people bear Ole (counting its spellings and scripts) across 11 countries in our records.

In which country does Ole have the most bearers?

We estimate about 30 thousand people bear Ole in Norway, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled ole.

How common is Ole compared with other names?

In Norway, Ole is the 15th most common given name of 38,312 given names recorded there.

Is Ole a male or female name?

Ole is a male 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 Ole mean?

Recorded meaning: a male given name from Danish or Old Norse