Oneida
A feminine name derived from an Iroquoian word meaning "people of the standing stone".
Name Census estimates that about 1,055 living Americans carry the first name Oneida. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Oneida today is around 51 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Oneida births was 1919 (63 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Oneida. 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
1.1K
~ 1 in 324,886 Americans
Peak year
1919
63 babies that year
Average age
51
years old
2023 SSA rank
#10,940
Tracked since 1887
Census
Oneida in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,463 people with the first name Oneida, which placed it at #6,494 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
#6,494
National first-name rank
People counted
2.5K
2,463 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
77.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Oneida
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Oneida is Hispanic at 77.2%. The next largest groups are White (12.3%) and Black (8.7%). 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 Oneida 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 Oneida at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino77.2% · 1,901
- White12.3% · 304
- Black or African American8.7% · 215
- Two or more races0.7% · 17
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 13
Popularity
Oneida: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Oneida from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 425 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
Oneida 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 Oneida during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Oneidas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 14 states and territories. Texas, New York, Kentucky recorded the most babies named Oneida, while West Virginia, Ohio, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 32 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Oneida
The name Oneida has its origins in the Iroquoian languages spoken by the indigenous Oneida Nation, a tribe that was part of the Iroquois Confederacy. The Oneida people inhabited areas of what is now central New York state and were one of the original Five Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy.
The name Oneida is derived from the Oneida word "onayote'a.ka", which translates to "people of the standing stone". This likely referred to a significant upright stone that held cultural or spiritual significance for the Oneida people. The name has also been interpreted to mean "granite people" or "people of the boulder".
In historical records, the name Oneida first appears in accounts and writings from the early European settlers and explorers who encountered the Oneida Nation in the 17th century. The Oneida tribe played a notable role in the American Revolutionary War, with some members siding with the British and others with the American colonists.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Oneida was Oneida Edmunds, a prominent chief of the Oneida Nation who was born around 1630. He was instrumental in negotiating treaties and land agreements with the British colonial authorities in the late 17th century.
Another famous Oneida was Oneida Wilcox, a respected elder and peacemaker born in the mid-18th century. She was known for her efforts to promote unity and reconciliation within the Iroquois Confederacy during a period of conflict and upheaval.
In the 19th century, Oneida Edmunds Jr., born in 1805, was a prominent leader and advocate for the Oneida Nation. He worked tirelessly to protect the rights and land claims of his people in the face of increasing encroachment by settlers and the United States government.
Oneida Kingiohsayehta, born in 1876, was a renowned Oneida artist and craftsman. He was celebrated for his intricate and beautiful beadwork, which helped to preserve and promote the traditional art forms of the Oneida people.
Finally, Oneida Polanco, born in 1919, was a notable educator and activist who dedicated her life to promoting the cultural heritage and rights of indigenous peoples. She played a pivotal role in establishing educational programs and initiatives focused on preserving the language, traditions, and history of the Oneida Nation.
People
Oneida + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Oneida 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
Oneida: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Oneida?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,055 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Oneida 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 324,886 US residents.
Is Oneida a common name?
We classify Oneida as "Rare". It ranks above 90.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,268 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Oneida most popular?
The single biggest year for Oneida was 1919, when 63 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Oneida is about 51 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Oneida in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,463 people with the name Oneida, or 0.82 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,494 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 Oneida 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 Oneida?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Oneida appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,463 people counted with this name, 99.6% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Oneida?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Oneida is Hispanic at 77.2%. The next largest groups are White (12.3%) and Black (8.7%). 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 Oneida most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Oneida in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.2% (1,901 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 Oneida in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Oneida a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Oneida 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 Oneida still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Oneida 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 Oneida 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 have the name Oneida?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.