Jolene
Meaning
modern coined name, combination of Jo and the popular name suffix -lene
Goes by Jojo
The story
Jolene was assembled, not inherited: Jo plus the suffix -lene, a build the early twentieth century liked. The American record shows 14 girls in the 1910s, then a steady mid-century climb to 4,820 in the 1950s. Then 1973 happened. Dolly Parton released a song called Jolene, and the name got a boost it never asked for: 6,018 girls in the 1970s, the largest figure in its record to that point. The 1990s cooled to 1,784, and then the revival arrived, 4,514 in the 2010s and 3,454 so far this decade. Half a century on, the song still does the introductions. Somewhere every day, a Jolene hears her own name sung back to her, and has to decide, once again, to take it as a compliment.
Jolene in song
Jolene
Dolly Parton (1973)
Dolly Parton pleading with a red-haired beauty not to take her man, built on a real bank teller who flirted with her husband.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Jolene peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
157 people · the #30,139 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 1,000,000 · median age 40
Among people named Jolene living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1980s than in any other decade.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Jolene
People given the name Jolene in the United States span the generations: the middle half were born anywhere from 1960 to 2019. Age is the one thing the name won't tell you.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Jolene deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Jolene truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Jolene fits with your family’s names and surname.
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