Onel
A masculine name of Sioux origin meaning "reverence for the mysteries".
Name Census estimates that about 42 living Americans carry the first name Onel. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Onel today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Onel births was 1992 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Onel. 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 Onel. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
42
~ 1 in 8,160,818 Americans
Peak year
1992
6 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2023 SSA rank
#13,611
Tracked since 1979
Census
Onel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 509 people with the first name Onel, which placed it at #20,333 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
#20,333
National first-name rank
People counted
509
509 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
67.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Onel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Onel is Hispanic at 67.2%. The next largest groups are Black (20.4%) and White (9.2%). 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 Onel 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 Onel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino67.2% · 342
- Black or African American20.4% · 104
- White9.2% · 47
- Two or more races1.8% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 2
Popularity
Onel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Onel from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 16 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Onel remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Onel 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 Onel 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 Onel
The name Onel has its origins in the ancient Greek language, tracing back to the 5th century BC. It is derived from the Greek word "onelos," which means "dream" or "vision." This name was used in various parts of the Greek-speaking world, including the regions that are now modern-day Greece, Turkey, and parts of the Middle East.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Onel can be found in the writings of the ancient Greek philosopher Plato, who mentioned a character with this name in his work "The Republic." In this text, Onel is described as a wise and insightful individual, perhaps alluding to the name's connection with dreams and visions.
During the Byzantine era, which spanned from the 4th to the 15th centuries, the name Onel gained further prominence. It was particularly popular among the Greek-speaking population of the Byzantine Empire, which encompassed territories across modern-day Greece, Turkey, and parts of the Middle East and the Balkans.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Onel. One of the earliest recorded individuals was Onel of Antioch, a Byzantine scholar and philosopher who lived in the 6th century AD. He is known for his contributions to the fields of logic and metaphysics.
In the 9th century, Onel the Monk, a Greek Orthodox monk and writer, gained recognition for his work on monastic life and spiritual practices. His writings have been influential in the Eastern Orthodox Christian tradition.
During the 12th century, Onel Ducas was a prominent Byzantine general and statesman. He played a significant role in the military campaigns of the Byzantine Empire and was known for his strategic acumen and leadership abilities.
In the 15th century, Onel Souliotes was a renowned Greek military leader and freedom fighter. He led the resistance against the Ottoman Empire in the region of Epirus, now part of modern-day Greece and Albania.
Another notable figure was Onel Kamenitsas, a Greek revolutionary and military commander who fought for Greek independence from the Ottoman Empire in the early 19th century. He played a crucial role in the Greek War of Independence and is regarded as a national hero in Greece.
While the name Onel has its roots in ancient Greek culture, it has also been adopted and adapted in various other languages and cultures over the centuries. However, its connection to the concept of dreams and visions has remained a consistent thread throughout its history, making it a name with a rich and meaningful heritage.
People
Onel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Onel 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
Onel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Onel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 42 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Onel 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 8,160,818 US residents.
Is Onel a common name?
We classify Onel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 51.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 43 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Onel most popular?
The single biggest year for Onel was 1992, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Onel is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Onel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 509 people with the name Onel, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,333 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 Onel 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 Onel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Onel leans strongly male. 489 people counted with this name were male (97.2%), compared with 14 female bearers (2.8%). 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 Onel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Onel is Hispanic at 67.2%. The next largest groups are Black (20.4%) and White (9.2%). 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 Onel most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Onel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.2% (342 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 Onel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Onel a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Onel 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 Onel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Onel 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 Onel 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 Onel?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.