Ociel
Masculine name meaning "the protector" or "winged warrior".
Name Census estimates that about 475 living Americans carry the first name Ociel. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ociel today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ociel births was 2008 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ociel. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
475
~ 1 in 721,588 Americans
Peak year
2008
27 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,111
Tracked since 1980
Census
Ociel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 688 people with the first name Ociel, which placed it at #16,413 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#16,413
National first-name rank
People counted
688
688 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
96.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ociel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ociel is Hispanic at 96.5%. The next largest groups are White (2.3%) and Black (0.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Ociel described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Ociel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino96.5% · 664
- White2.3% · 16
- Black or African American0.6% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 4
Popularity
Ociel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ociel from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 186 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ociel by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Ociel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ociels live
Origin
Meaning and history of Ociel
The name Ociel has its origins in the Hebrew language, stemming from the biblical name Oziel, which means "God is my strength." This name first appeared in the Old Testament book of Numbers, referring to a Levite who assisted in the construction of the Tabernacle.
In ancient times, the name was primarily used by Jewish communities, but its usage eventually spread to other cultures and regions. One of the earliest recorded individuals with this name was Ociel de Novara, an Italian Franciscan friar and theologian who lived in the 13th century and authored several religious works.
During the Middle Ages, the name Ociel gained some popularity in Europe, particularly in France and Spain. One notable figure from this period was Ociel of Besançon, a French nobleman and crusader who participated in the Third Crusade in the late 12th century.
In the 16th century, Ociel de Cádiz, a Spanish poet and playwright, gained recognition for his works, which were influenced by the Renaissance literary movement. His birth and death dates are unknown, but his plays were performed in various parts of Spain during the 1500s.
Moving forward to the 19th century, Ociel Delacroix was a French artist known for his landscape paintings and portraits. He was born in 1823 and lived until 1891, leaving behind a remarkable collection of works that captured the essence of rural French life.
Another notable individual with the name Ociel was Ociel Quintero, a Venezuelan writer and journalist who lived from 1898 to 1968. He was celebrated for his contributions to Venezuelan literature, particularly his novels and short stories that explored societal issues and the lives of ordinary people.
While the name Ociel is not as common today as it once was, it continues to hold historical and cultural significance, particularly in regions with strong ties to Hebrew and biblical traditions. Its unique sound and meaning have ensured its enduring presence throughout the centuries.
People
Ociel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ociel as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with O
Other first names starting with O with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ociel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ociel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 475 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ociel going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 721,588 US residents.
Is Ociel a common name?
We classify Ociel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 482 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ociel most popular?
The single biggest year for Ociel was 2008, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ociel is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ociel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 688 people with the name Ociel, or 0.23 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,413 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Ociel in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Ociel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ociel appears almost entirely male. Of the 690 people counted with this name, 99.6% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Ociel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ociel is Hispanic at 96.5%. The next largest groups are White (2.3%) and Black (0.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Ociel most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Ociel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.5% (664 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Ociel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ociel a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ociel in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Ociel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ociel in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Ociel can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many Americans are named Ociel?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.