Humanverse

Olena vs Olene

American parents have registered 1,347 Olenes since 1880, against 920 Olenas. But in 2025 it was Olena that was commoner, 21 babies to fewer than five.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Olena against Olene, 1880 to 2025 0 20 40 60 80 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Olena Olene

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 105 years in which either name was published, Olene for 53 years and Olena for 52 years. The lead changed hands 16 times.

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

Side by side

  Olena Olene
Total US births 9201,347
Most in one year 3566
Babies in 2025 21under 5
Estimated living today 520200
Median age today 1382
Peak year 20241922
Best rank 4,114th girls897th girls
Rank in 2025 5,722ndunranked
First recorded 18821898
Girls / boys 920 / 01,347 / 0

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 Olenes alive today are over 82; half the Olenas are over 13. That is 69 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Olena and Olene.