Omotayo
A Yoruba name meaning "a beloved child brings happiness".
Name Census estimates that about 25 living Americans carry the first name Omotayo. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 61.5% of registrations being male. The average person named Omotayo today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Omotayo births was 1990 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Omotayo. 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 Omotayo with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Omotayo. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
25
~ 1 in 13,710,174 Americans
Peak year
1990
6 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
2005 SSA rank
#10,400
Tracked since 1975
Census
Omotayo in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 446 people with the first name Omotayo, which placed it at #22,352 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
#22,352
National first-name rank
People counted
446
446 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
94.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Omotayo
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Omotayo is Black at 94.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.5%) and White (2.0%). 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 Omotayo 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 Omotayo at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American94.4% · 421
- Two or more races2.5% · 11
- White2.0% · 9
- Hispanic or Latino0.4% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Omotayo
Omotayo is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 26 total registrations, 16 (61.5%) were male and 10 (38.5%) were female.
Omotayo as a male name
- Ranked #12,830 in 2005
- 5 male births in 2005
- Peak: 1990 (6 births)
Omotayo as a female name
- Ranked #10,400 in 1976
- 5 female births in 1976
- Peak: 1975 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Omotayo on both sides of the split. Of the 447 people counted with this name, 244 were male (54.6%) and 203 were female (45.4%).
Popularity
Omotayo: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Omotayo from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 11 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Omotayo remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Omotayo 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 Omotayo during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Omotayos live
Origin
Meaning and history of Omotayo
Omotayo is a given name of Yoruba origin, originating from the southwestern region of Nigeria in West Africa. The name is derived from the combination of two Yoruba words: "Omo" meaning "child," and "Tayo" meaning "one who is worth celebrating or deserving of praises."
The Yoruba people have a rich cultural heritage that dates back to the 8th century AD, and their language is spoken by over 30 million people in Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The name Omotayo is believed to have been used by the Yoruba people for centuries, reflecting their tradition of giving names with deep meanings and cultural significance.
While there are no specific historical references or ancient texts mentioning the name Omotayo, it is deeply rooted in the Yoruba cultural and linguistic traditions. The earliest recorded examples of individuals bearing this name can be traced back to the 19th century, during the era of the Oyo Empire and the Yoruba city-states.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Omotayo. One of the earliest recorded examples is Omotayo Ogunbowale (1865-1940), a prominent Nigerian educator and activist who played a significant role in promoting Western education and women's rights in Nigeria. Another notable figure is Omotayo Oladipupo (1920-1992), a Nigerian politician and diplomat who served as the Minister of Education and the Nigerian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.
In the field of arts and culture, Omotayo Olaoye (1932-2011) was a renowned Nigerian sculptor and painter, known for his intricate woodcarvings and depictions of Yoruba cultural themes. Omotayo Adekunle (1942-2018) was a celebrated Nigerian drummer and percussionist who played a pivotal role in popularizing Yoruba drumming and music on the international stage.
More recently, Omotayo Olalekan (1978-present) is a Nigerian-American computer scientist and entrepreneur, best known for co-founding the software company Delali.io, which focuses on developing innovative solutions for the healthcare industry.
It is important to note that while these individuals have made significant contributions in various fields, their accomplishments are not solely defined by their names but rather by their actions, values, and the impact they have had on their respective communities and societies.
People
Omotayo + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Omotayo 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
Omotayo: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Omotayo?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 25 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Omotayo 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 13,710,174 US residents.
Is Omotayo a common name?
We classify Omotayo as "Very Rare". It ranks above 43.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 26 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Omotayo most popular?
The single biggest year for Omotayo was 1990, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Omotayo is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Omotayo in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 446 people with the name Omotayo, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,352 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 Omotayo 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 Omotayo?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Omotayo on both sides of the split. Of the 447 people counted with this name, 244 were male (54.6%) and 203 were female (45.4%). 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 Omotayo?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Omotayo is Black at 94.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.5%) and White (2.0%). 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 Omotayo most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Omotayo in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.4% (421 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 Omotayo in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Omotayo a male name?
Yes, 61.5% of people registered as Omotayo 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 Omotayo still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Omotayo 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 Omotayo 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 common is the name Omotayo?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.