Onda
A feminine name of Spanish origin meaning "wave" or "undulation".
Name Census estimates that about 24 living Americans carry the first name Onda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Onda today is around 73 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Onda births was 1919 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Onda. 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
- • The typical person named Onda is about 73 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Ondas were born before 1963.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Onda. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
24
~ 1 in 14,281,431 Americans
Peak year
1919
9 babies that year
Average age
73
years old
1964 SSA rank
#7,495
Tracked since 1915
Census
Onda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 140 people with the first name Onda, which placed it at #47,034 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
#47,034
National first-name rank
People counted
140
140 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Onda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Onda is White at 81.4%. The next largest groups are Black (10.7%) and Two or More Races (5.0%). 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 Onda 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 Onda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.4% · 114
- Black or African American10.7% · 15
- Two or more races5.0% · 7
- Hispanic or Latino1.4% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 1
Popularity
Onda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Onda from the 1910s through to the 1960s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 42 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Onda 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 Onda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Onda
The given name Onda is believed to have its origins in the Spanish language, derived from the word "onda" which means "wave" or "undulation." It is thought to have emerged as a name during the medieval period in Spain, possibly as a reference to the gentle waves of the sea or as a descriptive term for someone with wavy hair.
In the 16th century, the name Onda can be found in historical records from the Spanish region of Valencia, where it was likely used as a nickname or diminutive form of longer names like Ondina or Ondolina. These names, in turn, may have their roots in ancient Roman mythology, where the term "undina" referred to a type of water nymph or female spirit associated with rivers, lakes, and the sea.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Onda comes from the 17th century, when a Spanish poet and playwright named Onda de Solis was active in the literary circles of Madrid. Unfortunately, little is known about their life and work beyond a few surviving plays and poems.
In the 19th century, a notable figure named Onda Merino gained prominence as a prominent politician and lawyer in Chile. Born in 1820, he served as a member of the Chilean Congress and played a significant role in shaping the country's legal system during that era.
Another historical figure with the name Onda was Onda Chibás, a Cuban revolutionary and political leader who was a key figure in the struggle against the dictatorial regime of Fulgencio Batista in the mid-20th century. Chibás founded the Orthodox Party and was known for his passionate speeches advocating for democratic reforms and social justice. He tragically took his own life in 1951, but his legacy as a champion of democracy continued to inspire the Cuban revolution.
In the realm of literature, Onda Gálvez was a celebrated Spanish novelist and poet who lived during the early 20th century. Her works, which often explored themes of love, nature, and the human condition, were widely acclaimed and earned her numerous literary awards and honors.
Onda Milovanović was a Serbian artist and painter who lived from 1924 to 2010. Known for her vibrant and expressive works that captured the essence of her native country, Milovanović's paintings are considered a significant contribution to the Serbian art scene of the 20th century.
People
Onda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Onda 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
Onda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Onda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 24 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Onda 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 14,281,431 US residents.
Is Onda a common name?
We classify Onda as "Very Rare". It ranks above 43% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 117 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Onda most popular?
The single biggest year for Onda was 1919, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Onda is about 73 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Onda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 140 people with the name Onda, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #47,034 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 Onda 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 Onda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Onda leans strongly female. 131 people counted with this name were female (94.9%), compared with 7 male bearers (5.1%). 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 Onda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Onda is White at 81.4%. The next largest groups are Black (10.7%) and Two or More Races (5.0%). 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 Onda most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Onda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.4% (114 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 Onda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Onda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Onda in the SSA data are female. 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 Onda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Onda 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 Onda 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 named Onda?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.