Onell
A feminine name possibly derived from an English surname meaning "pine tree meadow".
Name Census estimates that about 8 living Americans carry the first name Onell. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 86.1% of registrations being female. The average person named Onell today is around 94 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Onell births was 1923 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Onell. 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 Onell is about 94 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Onells were born before 1942.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Onell. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
8
~ 1 in 42,844,292 Americans
Peak year
1923
11 babies that year
Average age
94
years old
1923 SSA rank
#4,721
Tracked since 1914
Census
Onell in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 171 people with the first name Onell, which placed it at #42,203 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
#42,203
National first-name rank
People counted
171
171 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
48.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Onell
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Onell is Black at 48.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (31.6%) and White (12.9%). 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 Onell 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 Onell at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American48.0% · 82
- Hispanic or Latino31.6% · 54
- White12.9% · 22
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.7% · 8
- Two or more races1.8% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Onell
Onell leans heavily female at 86.1% of total registrations, but 10 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Onell as a male name
- Ranked #4,721 in 1923
- 5 male births in 1923
- Peak: 1914 (5 births)
Onell as a female name
- Ranked #5,071 in 1944
- 5 female births in 1944
- Peak: 1934 (9 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Onell on both sides of the split. Of the 165 people counted with this name, 117 were male (70.9%) and 48 were female (29.1%).
Popularity
Onell: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Onell from the 1910s through to the 1940s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1930s, with 40 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1930s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Onell 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 Onell 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 Onell
The name Onell has its roots in the ancient Etruscan language, which flourished in what is now modern-day Italy between the 8th and 3rd centuries BCE. It is believed to derive from the Etruscan word "onela," which loosely translates to "enduring" or "everlasting." This suggests that the name was originally bestowed upon those who were perceived as having a strong, resilient spirit or a long lifespan.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Onell can be found in the Eugubine Tablets, a set of bronze inscriptions dating back to the 3rd century BCE. These tablets were discovered in the town of Gubbio, located in the ancient Etruscan territory of Umbria, and contained religious rituals and prayers inscribed in the Etruscan language.
During the Roman era, the name Onell was occasionally adopted by families of Etruscan descent who had assimilated into Roman society. One notable figure from this period was Onell Fabricius, a Roman senator who lived in the 1st century CE and was known for his unwavering integrity and commitment to justice.
As the centuries passed, the name Onell remained in use, albeit sporadically, across various regions of Europe. In the 12th century, an Onell de Montfort was recorded as a French knight who fought in the Crusades, while in the 15th century, an Italian artist named Onell Beccafumi achieved recognition for his exquisite frescoes and paintings.
During the Renaissance period, the name Onell experienced a resurgence in popularity, particularly among Italian families. One notable bearer of the name was Onell Piccolomini, an Italian nobleman and military commander who served under Emperor Charles V in the 16th century. Piccolomini played a crucial role in the Imperial campaigns against the Protestant Reformation and was renowned for his strategic brilliance on the battlefield.
Another fascinating figure from this era was Onell Bronzino, an Italian Mannerist painter who lived from 1503 to 1572. Bronzino's masterpieces, which often depicted members of the Medici family, are celebrated for their meticulous attention to detail and elegant portrayal of courtly life.
While the name Onell has become less common in modern times, it continues to hold a rich historical legacy, carrying the weight of its Etruscan origins and the enduring spirit of those who have borne it throughout the centuries.
People
Onell + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Onell 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
Onell: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Onell?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 8 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Onell 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 42,844,292 US residents.
Is Onell a common name?
We classify Onell as "Very Rare". It ranks above 24.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 72 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Onell most popular?
The single biggest year for Onell was 1923, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Onell is about 94 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Onell in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 171 people with the name Onell, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #42,203 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 Onell 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 Onell?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Onell on both sides of the split. Of the 165 people counted with this name, 117 were male (70.9%) and 48 were female (29.1%). 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 Onell?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Onell is Black at 48.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (31.6%) and White (12.9%). 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 Onell most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Onell in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.0% (82 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 Onell in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Onell a female name?
Yes, 86.1% of people registered as Onell 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 Onell still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Onell 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 Onell 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 Onell?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.