girl's name
Yolanda
yoh-LAN-duh
- Origin Spanish
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 3
- Letters 7
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 114,940
Ireland
#452
1987 births
Yolanda means violet, and the flower reaches it through a chain of respellings — the Greek Iolanthe became Violante in Italian by association with viola, and Spanish then rendered that form as the Yolanda we know.
- Yolanda is a name of Spanish origin.
- Peaked in 1969, when 3,782 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 67,664 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1901.
- 3 syllables, with the stress on syllable 2.
Yolanda over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1900s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1900s | 174 |
| 1910s | 1,979 |
| 1920s | 4,432 |
| 1930s | 2,923 |
| 1940s | 8,366 |
| 1950s | 20,041 |
| 1960s | 28,568 |
| 1970s | 27,187 |
| 1980s | 11,495 |
| 1990s | 4,638 |
| 2000s | 2,185 |
| 2010s | 1,117 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 350 |
What Yolanda means
Yolanda means violet, the flower. The Greek behind it joins the word for a violet to one meaning flower, so the compound is close to violet-blossom.
Where Yolanda comes from
Yolanda descends from the Greek Iolanthe — ion, a violet, joined to anthos, a flower. It traveled through medieval French as Yolande, borne by several countesses and queens including Yolande of Aragon, who backed Joan of Arc. Italian reshaped it as Violante under the influence of viola, its own word for the flower, which happens to be a genuine cognate rather than a false one. Spanish took the French form and produced Yolanda, which is the spelling that reached America.
Yolanda in use
Yolanda peaked in the United States in 1969, when 3,782 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It charts in exactly one of the six markets we track, at 3215th in the United States on 49 births, across 114,940 lifetime births. Our records carry it from 1901.
How popular is Yolanda?
In 2025, Yolanda was given to 49 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Yolanda is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Yolanda
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Yolanda also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Yolanda over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Yolanda
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Yolanda in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Yolanda
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Yolanda — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Yolanda
What does the name Yolanda mean?
Violet — the Greek ion, a violet, joined to anthos, a flower.
Is Yolanda related to Violet?
By meaning and, unusually, by root — the Greek ion and the Latin viola are genuine cognates.
Who was Yolande of Aragon?
A fifteenth-century queen who backed Joan of Arc, and one of the name's most powerful bearers.
How popular is Yolanda?
3215th in the United States, down from a 1969 peak of 3,771 births.
Is Yolanda a girl's or a boy's name?
Yolanda is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Yolanda?
Yolanda has 3 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Yolanda?
Yolanda is usually shortened to Yola.
Is Yolanda a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Yolanda currently ranks #3,125 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.