Oneta
A feminine name with uncertain origins, possibly derived from "Oneita".
Name Census estimates that about 195 living Americans carry the first name Oneta. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Oneta today is around 80 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Oneta births was 1922 (68 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Oneta. 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 Oneta is about 80 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Onetas were born before 1956.
People living today
195
~ 1 in 1,757,715 Americans
Peak year
1922
68 babies that year
Average age
80
years old
1972 SSA rank
#7,942
Tracked since 1893
Census
Oneta in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 348 people with the first name Oneta, which placed it at #26,649 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
#26,649
National first-name rank
People counted
348
348 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
77.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Oneta
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Oneta is White at 77.0%. The next largest groups are Black (12.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.9%). 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 Oneta 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 Oneta at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White77.0% · 268
- Black or African American12.9% · 45
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.9% · 17
- Two or more races4.0% · 14
- Hispanic or Latino1.1% · 4
Popularity
Oneta: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Oneta from the 1890s through to the 1970s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 502 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
Oneta 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 Oneta during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Onetas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri recorded the most babies named Oneta, while Tennessee, Mississippi, Indiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 87 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Oneta
The name Oneta is believed to have originated from the Native American language of the Choctaw people, who are members of the Mississippian culture group. The Choctaw were originally based in the Southeastern Woodlands region of what is now the United States, particularly in the areas of present-day Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana.
Oneta is thought to be derived from the Choctaw word "ona," which means "to rise" or "to awaken." This suggests that the name Oneta may have been given to children born at dawn or to those who were particularly active and lively from an early age.
While the exact origins of the name are not entirely clear, it is known that the Choctaw people have a long and rich tradition of naming practices, with many names reflecting their connection to nature, animals, and the natural world around them.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Oneta dates back to the late 19th century. Oneta Burge (1868-1957) was a Choctaw educator and activist who played a significant role in preserving the Choctaw language and culture. She was born in Indian Territory, which is now part of Oklahoma, and dedicated her life to teaching Choctaw language and traditions to younger generations.
Another notable figure with the name Oneta was Oneta Gaskill (1900-1979), an American actress who appeared in several films during the silent era of Hollywood in the 1920s. She was born in Missouri and had a successful career on the stage before transitioning to the silver screen.
In the realm of sports, Oneta Woodard (1921-2007) was a renowned softball player from Oklahoma. She was a member of the Phoenix Ramblers, a highly successful women's softball team in the 1940s and 1950s, and was inducted into the Amateur Softball Association's National Softball Hall of Fame in 1973.
Oneta Wilt (1928-2015) was an American artist and educator known for her vibrant abstract expressionist paintings. She was born in Kansas and spent much of her career teaching art at various universities, while also exhibiting her works in galleries across the United States.
Lastly, Oneta Dene Grahame (1936-2016) was a Canadian author and educator who wrote several children's books and novels. She was born in Saskatchewan and dedicated her life to promoting literacy and encouraging a love of reading among young people.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who have borne the name Oneta, a name with roots in the rich cultural heritage of the Choctaw people and a connection to the ideas of awakening and new beginnings.
People
Oneta + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Oneta 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
Oneta: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Oneta?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 195 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Oneta 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 1,757,715 US residents.
Is Oneta a common name?
We classify Oneta as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,465 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Oneta most popular?
The single biggest year for Oneta was 1922, when 68 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Oneta is about 80 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Oneta in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 348 people with the name Oneta, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,649 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 Oneta 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 Oneta?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Oneta leans strongly female. 343 people counted with this name were female (98.0%), compared with 7 male bearers (2.0%). 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 Oneta?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Oneta is White at 77.0%. The next largest groups are Black (12.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.9%). 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 Oneta most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Oneta in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.0% (268 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 Oneta in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Oneta a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Oneta 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 Oneta still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Oneta 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 Oneta 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 share the name Oneta?
Want to know how many Americans are named Oneta? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.