Om
A Sanskrit name derived from a religious mantra representing cosmic consciousness.
Name Census estimates that about 2,234 living Americans carry the first name Om. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Om today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Om births was 2008 (153 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Om. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Om with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Om is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 14 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.2K
~ 1 in 153,426 Americans
Peak year
2008
153 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,161
Tracked since 1983
Census
Om in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,897 people with the first name Om, which placed it at #5,755 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
#5,755
National first-name rank
People counted
2.9K
2,897 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
92.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Om
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Om is Asian/Pacific Islander at 92.9%. The next largest groups are White (2.9%) and Two or More Races (1.8%). 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 Om 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 Om at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander92.9% · 2,690
- White2.9% · 83
- Two or more races1.8% · 52
- Black or African American0.9% · 25
- Hispanic or Latino0.9% · 25
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 22
Popularity
Om: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Om 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 968 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Om remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Om 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 Om during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Oms live
The SSA's state-level files cover 15 states and territories. California, New Jersey, Texas recorded the most babies named Om, while Maryland, Tennessee, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 92 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Om
The name Om is of Sanskrit origin and has deep spiritual and religious significance in the Hindu tradition. It is considered a sacred sound and a representation of the Divine, embodying the essence of the universe. The word "Om" is believed to be derived from the ancient Sanskrit root "av," which means "to protect or preserve."
The earliest known references to the name Om can be found in the Upanishads, a collection of philosophical and spiritual texts that form the foundation of Hindu philosophy. The Mandukya Upanishad, one of the principal Upanishads, is entirely devoted to the exploration of the profound meaning and symbolism of Om. It is described as the primordial sound from which all creation emerges and the ultimate reality that encompasses the entire universe.
In Hindu scriptures, Om is often referred to as the "Pranava" or the sacred syllable, and it is a fundamental component of many Hindu rituals and practices. The recitation or chanting of Om is believed to facilitate meditation, spiritual growth, and a deeper connection with the Divine. It is also used as an invocation at the beginning of prayers, ceremonies, and recitations of sacred texts, such as the Vedas and the Upanishads.
One of the earliest known historical figures associated with the name Om is the renowned sage Maharishi Veda Vyasa, who is believed to have lived around the 3rd or 4th century BCE. Vyasa is credited with compiling and arranging the Vedas, the most ancient and revered scriptures of Hinduism, and is considered a central figure in the development of Hindu philosophy and literature.
Another notable figure is the great Hindu philosopher and reformer, Adi Shankara, who lived between 788 and 820 CE. Shankara was a proponent of the Advaita Vedanta school of philosophy, which emphasizes the non-dualistic nature of reality and the ultimate oneness of the individual soul (Atman) with the Supreme Brahman. His teachings and commentaries on the Upanishads and other sacred texts helped revive and strengthen the Hindu tradition in India.
In the realm of art and culture, Om has been widely depicted and represented in various forms, such as sculptures, paintings, and architectural designs. The syllable is often depicted as a sacred symbol, with its distinctive shape and calligraphic style, and it is frequently used as a motif in Hindu temples and religious artifacts.
Other notable historical figures associated with the name Om include the 9th-century Hindu philosopher Adi Shankara, who was instrumental in reviving and propagating the Advaita Vedanta philosophy, and the 12th-century saint and mystic Basavanna, who was a prominent figure in the Lingayat spiritual tradition and advocated for social reform and equality.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Om
People
Om + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Om 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
Om: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Om?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,234 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Om 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 153,426 US residents.
Is Om a common name?
We classify Om as "Rare". It ranks above 94.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,255 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Om most popular?
The single biggest year for Om was 2008, when 153 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Om is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Om in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,897 people with the name Om, or 0.96 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,755 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 Om 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 Om?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Om leans strongly male. 2,770 people counted with this name were male (95.7%), compared with 123 female bearers (4.3%). 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 Om?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Om is Asian/Pacific Islander at 92.9%. The next largest groups are White (2.9%) and Two or More Races (1.8%). 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 Om most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Om in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.9% (2,690 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 Om in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Om a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Om 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 Om still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Om 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 Om 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 share the name Om?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.