Finola

Girls' name

Form of Fionnuala

Finola has been given to 178 babies in the U.S. since 1966. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 2007, with 20 recorded.

Babies named Finola, 2022

1 in 484,000

Finola over time, 1880–2025

Girls

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Finola: meaning, origin, and history

Form of Fionnuala

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Finola means

Finola is a form of Fionnuala.

Documented naming usage and pronunciation

Finola is used in Irish.

Meaning behind the documented name family

The name developed through Finola → Fionnuala. The family’s meaning is “white shoulder”, recorded in the naming reference for Fionnuala.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Fionnuala.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 178 girls were recorded with the name Finola between 1966 and 2022. Its highest annual count was 20 in 2007; its best national rank was #6,643 in 2007.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

U.S. Social Security Administration: national name data and limitations

How common is Finola?

Finola had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2022, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2022: 1 in 484,000; 7 of 3,385,755 births
Among girls only: 1 in 234,000; <0.01% of girls
Rank, 2022: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 335,262 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Finola sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2022 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%

Class of 30Under 1%

Grade of 100Under 1%

School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 335,262 children born in 2022 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Finola. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Finolas were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Finola was born before 2010 — so the typical Finola is around 15 today.

Median birth year: 2010; About 15 years old
Biggest decade: 2010s; 41.6% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 91.0%; A modern name
Recorded since 1950: 178; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

2010s — 41.6% of all recorded uses (74).

Is Finola rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago: —; Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago: New entry; Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago: —; Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago: —; Not published both years
Share of its own peak: 0%; Peak was 2007 (20)
Years since peak: 18; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Volatile; 48.9% average annual change
Best rank ever: #6,643; 2007

Spellings of Finola

Finola is not the most common spelling — Viola is, with 58.5% against Finola's 0.08%.

Viola58.5%132,993
Fiona14.9%33,959
Nola11.6%26,262
Winona5.7%12,953
Iola4.2%9,659
Nicola2.2%5,078
Enola1.4%3,084
Izola0.49%1,119

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Finola around the world

Where Finola ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

England & Wales
1996–2024
#4,193
in 2024
Ireland
1964–2004
#677
in 2004
South Australia
1970–1970
#707
in 1970

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Central Statistics Office and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Finola by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #6,643; 2007
Peak year: 2007; 20 that year
First recorded: 1966
Last recorded: 2022
All-time count: 178
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Finola

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

Finlay Winola Finlee Eniola Finnegan Teniola Finesse Adeola Inola Finnlee Findley Anola Finn Rayola Abiola Nikola Pahola Finnleigh Xola Minola Damilola Jadesola Genola Anapaola

Sibling names for Finola

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

For a sister

Jailyn Kalli Neveah Marlen Jaylyn Lupita Rhianna Marin

For a brother

Jaeden Nikhil Jamarcus Slade Brandt Nevin Ean Davian

Explore around Finola

Top names of 2007, Finola's peak year The 2000s in full Other names that peaked in 2007 Girls' names starting with F