Photo by takomabibelot via Flickr.
She’s vaguely botanical, slightly invented, a little bit hip hop, too.
Thanks to Emily of It’s All In The Name for suggesting Nolia as our Baby Name of the Day.
You might have stumbled across Nolia on Namberry’s Lost Names of 1880 list. Along with Letta and Rella and a long list of others, Nameberry describes them as “lopped-off pieces of longer names.”
Rella stumps me, but in the case of Nolia, Magnolia comes immediately to mind. Nolia ranked in the US Top 1000 just three times – 1880, 1897, and 1901, but Magnolia was relatively common.
Check the US Census records, and there’s no shortage of women named Nolia. One of the interesting quirks is that a number of Nolias seem to have made names for themselves in Oklahoma. One that stands out was Mrs. Nolia Johnson, the wife of Nolia, Oklahoma’s first postmaster – the town was named in her honor. Not so far away, Durant, Oklahoma hosts the Magnolia Festival every June and calls itself the Magnolia Capital of Oklahoma.
Another notable Nolia was the mother of Alabama-born Dean Jones, the actor who played race car driver Jim Douglas in Disney’s Love Bug movies.
Magnolias do conjure up the American South, with or without moonlight and hoop skirts. 1989’s enduring Steel Magnolias was set in Louisiana. Nolia, too, conjures up Louisiana, but not necessarily in a positive light.
New Orleans’ CJ Peete Projects were long known as the Magnolia Projects – or just Nolia. Nolia was notorious for crime and violence, but also for launching a number of hip hop artists. A trio of rappers known as UTP scored a Top Ten on the Rap and Hip Hop charts with “Nolia Clap.”
It’s catchy, but not much in the way of inspiration for a child’s name. Neither is Nolia Chapman, an obscure actress with one credit to her name – a bit role in 1962’s Satan in High Heels. The movie is remembered partially because it was an early role for actress was Grayson Hall. She had a long career in television and film, even garnering an Oscar-nomination.
And yet it almost doesn’t matter. Nola has been on an upswing. Pronounced NO lee ah or no LEE ah, she fits with classic three-syllable names like Julia. Or pronounce her NOL yah, and she works as well as up-and-coming two-syllable choices like Anya.
According to Nancy’s 2009 list, there were fewer than five Nolias born in the US in 2009. The Spanish Noelia – a feminine version of Noel – was given to 200 girls. With more parents saying yes to No- names, from Noemi to Noa, it seems like the kind of choice that more parents could discover.
Noka Craft says
April 23, 2018 at 10:37 PMHello,
My name is Noka. Don’t try to look it up. You wont be able to find it any where. Except maybe in Russian. the word noka means “Hello”, at least according to Google. I have always hated my name. Too me it is just too strange. I wish my mother had named me Nolia that name is so feminine and lovely.
Noka
Nolia says
October 16, 2013 at 10:04 PMMy name happens to be nolia and I heard that it means to be “full of grace” an grace is my middle name!
delfina says
January 25, 2011 at 12:02 AMI have a 3 yr old daughter named Nola. We call her Noli & Nolia interchangeably. Never thought of Nolia as a name on its own before, but think it could work nicely.
Lyndsay says
January 21, 2011 at 12:35 AMOh I love Nolia! Magnolia used to be high on my list, and I would have used Nolia/Nolie as nicknames. I would be happy to meet a Nolia, but I think Magnolia is more striking. Hmm, you’ve got me thinking, maybe Magnolia needs to be on my list again.
Oh, and I say it NO-lee-ah
Charlotte Vera says
January 21, 2011 at 12:32 AMI, too, am liking the layout change! Much more vibrant.
As for this name, it’s pretty, but I hear “No, Leah” when I say it out loud. Despite that, I prefer the no-lee-ah sound to that of nol-yah. With friends naming their babies Nova and Nora, I could certainly see Nolia catching on.
Lyndsay says
January 21, 2011 at 12:37 AMLOLing at “No, Leah” !
appellationmountain says
January 21, 2011 at 5:57 AMNo, Leah makes me think of the Donnie Iris song “Ah, Leah” … which will be stuck in my head all day!
Nova, Nora, Nolia … I do think there’s something to the idea that short, ends-in-a, N-names are having a moment. There’s also Noa, Nola, Nina, Neva.
liz says
January 20, 2011 at 11:54 PMReminds me of the Irish Nuala, which we considered….
Lemon says
January 20, 2011 at 7:27 PMOh, this is quite the striking layout, Abby! Nolia is fun. I’m generally a fan of -lia names, I think – Adelia, Amelia, Aurelia, Celia, Cornelia, Cordelia, Dahlia, Eulalia, Julia, Lilia, Magnolia, Natalia, Ophelia, Rosalia, Thalia. So many different styles, but they all sound glamorous and feminine, right?
By the way, I just checked out that 1880s list on NB, and the first name on the list, Alcie, struck me as a cute, unique nickname for Alice!
appellationmountain says
January 20, 2011 at 7:43 PMOoh … Alcie is great.
Bek says
January 20, 2011 at 6:33 PMI’m a huge Nola fan (mostly as a NN to Finola), but I’m having a hard time with Nolia. I want to say Nola, so it comes out with a lazy tongue – Nol-ya in stead of Nol-ee-uh. And I could see how it would easily be that way for most people.
Bek says
January 20, 2011 at 6:33 PMps – meant to add, much easier on the eyes today 😉 thanks! (because of course you changed it just for me, HA!)
appellationmountain says
January 20, 2011 at 7:43 PMYou’re welcome. 😉 I’m happier with some things here, but there’s still work to do on the header and the sidebar, so … stay tuned!
Lemon says
January 21, 2011 at 12:16 AMAbby – I did just want to comment on one thing about the layout. I love how the names themselves look. They’re modern and easy on the eye, yet they have a clean vintage look about them, too. It’s the title header that I’m not sure about – it looks a little harsh whereas I’d expect something a bit softer, maybe? Don’t get me wrong, it looks good, but I wasn’t sure what vibe you were going for…
appellationmountain says
January 21, 2011 at 5:47 AMThe title header is too much, I agree – it is a lot of big, bold letters. I fell in love with how each post looked, with the date in the circle, and the sidebars shaded, so I decided to try the theme and see if I could customize the header and the sidebars. It might take some doing …
British American says
January 21, 2011 at 9:42 PMMuch smoother on my eyes too – thanks! 🙂
Wrenn says
January 20, 2011 at 2:49 PMI say Nol-yah but it feels like I should be saying Nol-ee-a. I like it ok. But I LOVE Magnolia and prefer Nola or Noli as nicknames. Funny that I don’t mind the “yah” ending on the longer Magnolia but I don’t really like it on the shortened version.
MrsS says
January 20, 2011 at 1:57 PMI recently heard of a set of twins named Nolia and Eliza. I had never heard the name, and didn’t make the magnolia connection, but I thought it was a pretty sister set.
Sarah A says
January 20, 2011 at 1:22 PMNolia is really quite pretty. I would say it NO lee ah like Julia, accent on the first syllable. I would not have thought of it as a part of Magnolia, but a kind of mash-up of Nola and Lia.
I think Nolia could be a nice pick for parents who want a name their daughter won’t share with others but that doesn’t sound too ‘out there’.
C in DC says
January 20, 2011 at 11:11 AMRella = Cinderella?
Panya says
January 20, 2011 at 4:13 PMThat, Mirella, and Estrella came to mind for me.
appellationmountain says
January 21, 2011 at 5:52 AMI love Estrella, but I was heartbroken to realize it sounds like eh STRAY eh. And we’ve watched way too much Dora to imagine that we could say it like Stella with a few extra sounds.
appellationmountain says
January 20, 2011 at 7:42 PMMaybe! That’s a good thought.
cheliesther says
January 27, 2011 at 11:47 AMI like Neila-Nelly