Olajuwon
- Gender
- Boy
- Say it
- oh-LAH-zhoo-wahn
- Origin
- Yoruba
- US rank, 2025
- #8,906 for boys
Olajuwon is a boys' name of Yoruba origin, meaning “honour is greater than theirs”. In 2025 it ranked 8,906th for boys in the US (8 babies).
What does Olajuwon mean?
Yoruba
“honour is greater than theirs”
Famous as the surname of Nigerian-born basketball Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon.
Is Olajuwon a girl's or a boy's name?
Olajuwon is a boys' name. In 2025, it was given to 8 boys in the US. Too few girls were given it to be listed.
How popular is Olajuwon in the US?
- Rank in 2025
- 8,906th among boys
- Babies in 2025
- 8 about 1 in 210,000 boys
- Five-year trend
- Too rare to call too few babies to tell
- Same name in a class
- under 1% chance among 15 boys
In 2025, 8 boys in the US were named Olajuwon, making it the 8,906th most popular name for boys. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 9,548th. Its busiest year was 1994, with 58 boys. It first appears in the records in 1983.
Half of all the boys named Olajuwon in the US since 1880 were born between 1989 and 2006, the years shaded on the chart below.
Olajuwon in the US, year by year
| Year | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 8 | #8,906 |
| 2024 | 8 | #8,982 |
| 2023 | 10 | #7,733 |
| 2022 | 0 | – |
| 2021 | 5 | #12,141 |
| 2020 | 7 | #9,548 |
| 2019 | 0 | – |
| 2018 | 13 | #6,341 |
| 2017 | 6 | #10,770 |
| 2016 | 9 | #8,141 |
| 2015 | 9 | #8,035 |
| 2014 | 10 | #7,557 |
| 2013 | 7 | #9,650 |
| 2012 | 9 | #8,152 |
| 2011 | 15 | #5,670 |
| 2010 | 9 | #8,133 |
| 2009 | 13 | #6,432 |
| 2008 | 10 | #7,693 |
| 2007 | 5 | #12,361 |
| 2006 | 8 | #8,726 |
| 2005 | 7 | #9,108 |
| 2004 | 0 | – |
| 2003 | 5 | #10,886 |
| 2002 | 9 | #7,048 |
| 2001 | 11 | #6,006 |
| 2000 | 8 | #7,409 |
| 1999 | 15 | #4,531 |
| 1998 | 16 | #4,193 |
| 1997 | 24 | #3,059 |
| 1996 | 26 | #2,833 |
| 1995 | 54 | #1,661 |
| 1994 | 58 | #1,576 |
| 1993 | 16 | #3,812 |
| 1992 | 18 | #3,452 |
| 1991 | 24 | #2,747 |
| 1990 | 22 | #2,859 |
| 1989 | 19 | #3,088 |
| 1988 | 17 | #3,074 |
| 1987 | 23 | #2,396 |
| 1986 | 52 | #1,362 |
| 1985 | 22 | #2,356 |
| 1984 | 19 | #2,528 |
| 1983 | 15 | #2,911 |
Names like Olajuwon
Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.
Ayomide, Om, Obi, Omari, Kwame, Kobe, Atom, Tobin, Oz, Nikola, Tadeo, Binyomin
More Yoruba names
Tiaraoluwa, Tobi, Oluwadarasimi, Oluwatamilore, Ireoluwa, Inioluwa, Ifeoluwa, Iremide, Araoluwa, Ayomikun, Oluwanifemi, Morayo, Temiloluwa, Obaloluwa, Oluwatobiloba, Oreoluwa
Sources
Figures from Popular Baby Names (US Social Security Administration). Nameling last updated them on 20 October 2026. How the figures are worked out, and the data to download.
To cite this page: Nameling, “Olajuwon: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/olajuwon, updated 20 October 2026.