Meaning and history
From an Irish surname, the Anglicized form of Ó Nualláin, derived from the given name Nuallán, Nolan has become increasingly popular since the 1970s. A famous bearer is baseball player Nolan Ryan (1947-).
20062006: 2,839 births, rank #146
2007: 3,171 births, rank #133
2008: 3,151 births, rank #131
2009: 3,437 births, rank #122
2010: 3,689 births, rank #104
20112011: 4,169 births, rank #92
2012: 4,427 births, rank #89
2013: 4,745 births, rank #86
2014: 5,210 births, rank #81
2015: 5,739 births, rank #71
20162016: 5,634 births, rank #67
2017: 5,400 births, rank #67
2018: 5,629 births, rank #65
2019: 5,403 births, rank #65
2020: 5,200 births, rank #61
20212021: 5,354 births, rank #60
2022: 4,928 births, rank #65
2023: 5,129 births, rank #57
2024: 4,900 births, rank #64
20252025: 4,846 births, rank #65
Nolan has risen sharply in the modern US rankings, moving from #182 in 2000 to #65 in 2025. It now stands at #65 for boys. Its highest annual birth count came in 2015, with 5,739 births.