Zola

Where Zola comes from

The dictionaries list Zola as a given name — a female given name created from Zoë or from the surname — but don't trace where it came from. The record below is what the SSA data shows.

  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #679 among girls — 7 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1895
    Peak, #363
    60 babies named Zola — more than any year before or since.
  3. 1957
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #2,121.
  4. 1966
    Zola Budd born
    South African competitive runner
  5. 1967
    Zola Maseko born
    Swazi film director
In the dictionary
  • A female given name created from Zoë or from the surname.
Namesakes
  • Zola Budd · South African competitive runner, born 1966
  • Zola Maseko · Swazi film director, born 1967
  • Zola Davis · American football player, born 1975

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.