Oni
A Japanese name meaning "demon" or "ogre" in folklore.
Name Census estimates that about 279 living Americans carry the first name Oni. It is a predominantly female name (95.8% of registrations). The average person named Oni today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Oni births was 2020 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Oni. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Oni with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
279
~ 1 in 1,228,510 Americans
Peak year
2020
22 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2023 SSA rank
#10,504
Tracked since 1973
Census
Oni in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 413 people with the first name Oni, which placed it at #23,623 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
#23,623
National first-name rank
People counted
413
413 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
53.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Oni
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Oni is Black at 53.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.9%) and White (16.5%). 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 Oni 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 Oni at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American53.3% · 220
- Hispanic or Latino17.9% · 74
- White16.5% · 68
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.8% · 28
- Two or more races4.6% · 19
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Oni
Oni leans heavily female at 95.8% of total registrations, but 12 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Oni as a male name
- Ranked #10,504 in 2023
- 7 male births in 2023
- Peak: 2023 (7 births)
Oni as a female name
- Ranked #14,713 in 2023
- 6 female births in 2023
- Peak: 2020 (17 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Oni on both sides of the split. Of the 422 people counted with this name, 97 were male (23.0%) and 325 were female (77.0%).
Popularity
Oni: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Oni from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 75 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Oni remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Oni 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 Oni 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 Oni
The name Oni has its origins in the Japanese language and culture. It is derived from the Japanese word "oni," which means "demon" or "ogre" in English. This word has been used in Japanese folklore and mythology for centuries to refer to supernatural beings that were often depicted as monstrous, grotesque, or evil in nature.
In ancient Japanese texts and stories, the oni were often portrayed as powerful beings that could cause harm and destruction to humans. They were sometimes depicted as having horns, claws, and a frightening appearance. Some stories suggest that the oni were once human beings who had committed evil deeds in their lifetime and had transformed into these demonic creatures as a result.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Oni can be found in the Kojiki, an ancient Japanese chronicle that dates back to the early 8th century. In this text, there are references to various oni and their exploits. Another notable mention of the name is in the Nihon Shoki, another ancient Japanese chronicle from the 8th century, which contains stories and legends involving oni.
Throughout Japanese history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Oni. One such person was Oni no Kamuro, a female court attendant who served the Emperor Kammu in the late 8th century. Another notable figure was Oni no Mibu, a legendary samurai warrior who lived during the Kamakura period (1185-1333).
In the realm of Japanese literature, one of the most famous works featuring an oni is the Noh play "Tsuchigumo," which depicts a battle between a brave warrior and a powerful oni known as Tsuchigumo. This play is believed to have been written in the 14th or 15th century and is still performed today as part of the traditional Noh theater tradition.
Another notable person with the name Oni was Oni no Michikaze, a skilled archer who served under the famous shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo in the late 12th century. Oni no Michikaze was known for his exceptional archery skills and is said to have played a crucial role in several battles during the Genpei War.
In more recent times, there have been several Japanese artists and writers who have used the name Oni or incorporated oni into their works. For example, the Japanese writer and filmmaker Akira Kurosawa directed a film called "Oni no Naku Koro" (When the Oni Howls) in 1957, which explored themes of human nature and the struggle between good and evil.
People
Oni + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Oni 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
Oni: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Oni?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 279 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Oni 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 1,228,510 US residents.
Is Oni a common name?
We classify Oni as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 287 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Oni most popular?
The single biggest year for Oni was 2020, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Oni 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 Oni in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 413 people with the name Oni, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #23,623 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 Oni 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 Oni?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Oni on both sides of the split. Of the 422 people counted with this name, 97 were male (23.0%) and 325 were female (77.0%). 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 Oni?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Oni is Black at 53.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.9%) and White (16.5%). 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 Oni most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Oni in the 2020 Census, accounting for 53.3% (220 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 Oni in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Oni a female name?
Yes, 95.8% of people registered as Oni 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 Oni still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Oni 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 Oni 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 Oni?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.