Oh
An interjection expressing various emotions, including surprise, pain, or pleasure.
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Oh. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Oh today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Oh births was 2013 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Oh. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Oh. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
2013
5 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2013 SSA rank
#13,526
Tracked since 2013
Census
Oh in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 402 people with the first name Oh, which placed it at #24,093 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
#24,093
National first-name rank
People counted
402
402 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
89.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Oh
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Oh is Asian/Pacific Islander at 89.6%. The next largest groups are White (6.7%) and Hispanic (1.7%). 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 Oh 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 Oh at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander89.6% · 360
- White6.7% · 27
- Hispanic or Latino1.7% · 7
- Black or African American1.2% · 5
- Two or more races0.7% · 3
Popularity
Oh: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Oh 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 Oh during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Oh
The given name Oh has its origins in the Korean language, where it is a common interjection used to express surprise, understanding, or acknowledgment. The earliest recorded instances of the name date back to the Goryeo dynasty (918-1392 CE) in Korea.
In Korean culture, the sound "oh" was considered auspicious and was often used as a way to express joy or reverence. This likely contributed to its adoption as a given name, though the exact reasons for its use as a personal name are unclear.
One of the earliest known individuals to bear the name Oh was a Buddhist monk who lived during the Goryeo dynasty. His name was Oh Gwang-won, and he was renowned for his calligraphy skills and his contributions to the spread of Buddhism in Korea.
During the Joseon dynasty (1392-1897 CE), the name Oh became more prevalent among the Korean nobility and scholarly classes. One notable figure from this period was Oh Ryu-sun (1547-1598), a renowned Confucian scholar and philosopher who wrote extensively on ethics and governance.
In the 20th century, the name Oh gained international recognition through the work of Korean-American author and activist Oh Saddie (1874-1959). Born in Korea, she immigrated to the United States and became a vocal advocate for Korean independence and women's rights.
Another notable bearer of the name was Oh Yun-kyu (1925-2010), a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the country's Prime Minister from 1980 to 1981.
In more recent times, the name Oh has been carried by individuals such as Oh Eun-sun (born 1983), a South Korean actress known for her roles in popular television dramas, and Oh Sang-ho (born 1974), a South Korean film director and screenwriter best known for the zombie film "Train to Busan" (2016).
While the name Oh has its roots in Korean culture, it has also been adopted by individuals of other ethnic backgrounds, particularly those with connections to Korean communities or an appreciation for the name's unique sound and meaning.
People
Oh + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Oh 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
Oh: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Oh?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Oh 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 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Oh a common name?
We classify Oh as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Oh most popular?
The single biggest year for Oh was 2013, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Oh is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Oh in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 402 people with the name Oh, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,093 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 Oh 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 Oh?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Oh on both sides of the split. Of the 397 people counted with this name, 225 were male (56.7%) and 172 were female (43.3%). 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 Oh?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Oh is Asian/Pacific Islander at 89.6%. The next largest groups are White (6.7%) and Hispanic (1.7%). 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 Oh most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Oh in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.6% (360 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 Oh in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Oh a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Oh 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 Oh still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Oh 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 Oh 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 people are called Oh?
Want to know how many Americans are named Oh? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.