Oniel
Hebrew name meaning "strength and determination of God."
Name Census estimates that about 216 living Americans carry the first name Oniel. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Oniel today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Oniel births was 1993 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Oniel. 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
216
~ 1 in 1,586,826 Americans
Peak year
1993
13 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,599
Tracked since 1913
Census
Oniel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 701 people with the first name Oniel, which placed it at #16,182 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
#16,182
National first-name rank
People counted
701
701 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
46.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Oniel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Oniel is Hispanic at 46.1%. The next largest groups are Black (44.2%) and White (5.6%). 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 Oniel 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 Oniel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino46.1% · 323
- Black or African American44.2% · 310
- White5.6% · 39
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 20
- Two or more races1.1% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Popularity
Oniel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Oniel from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 64 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Oniel remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Oniel 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 Oniel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Oniels live
Origin
Meaning and history of Oniel
The given name Oniel has its roots in the ancient Semitic languages of the Middle East. Derived from the Hebrew name "Anial," it is believed to have originated during the biblical era, though its precise origin is uncertain. The name is thought to be a variation of "Onel," which means "strength of God" or "strength from God" in Hebrew.
In ancient texts, the name Oniel is mentioned in the Book of Numbers, one of the books of the Hebrew Bible. It is recorded as the name of a son of Reuben, one of the twelve tribes of Israel. This early reference suggests that the name has been in use for thousands of years, dating back to ancient Israelite culture.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Oniel was Oniel ben Shlomo, a prominent Jewish scholar and philosopher who lived in the 11th century. He was known for his contributions to the field of Jewish mysticism and his interpretations of the Kabbalah.
In the 16th century, Oniel Algarizin was a renowned Spanish poet and writer. He was born in Seville in 1510 and is best known for his work "Cancionero," a collection of poems that celebrated the beauty of his homeland and explored themes of love and spirituality.
During the 17th century, Oniel Vanderhoeven was a Dutch painter and engraver. Born in Amsterdam in 1630, he was renowned for his landscape paintings and etchings that captured the beauty of the Dutch countryside.
In the 19th century, Oniel Gómez was a Mexican military leader and politician. Born in 1805, he played a significant role in the Mexican-American War and later served as the governor of the state of Puebla.
Another notable figure with the name Oniel was Oniel Parchment, a Jamaican sprinter and Olympic medalist. Born in 1985, he won the silver medal in the 4x100m relay at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, contributing to Jamaica's rich athletic tradition.
While the name Oniel has its ancient roots, it has remained relatively uncommon throughout history. However, its connection to the Biblical era and its meaning of "strength from God" have given it a sense of reverence and significance, particularly among those of Semitic and Abrahamic faith traditions.
People
Oniel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Oniel 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
Oniel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Oniel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 216 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Oniel 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 1,586,826 US residents.
Is Oniel a common name?
We classify Oniel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 246 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Oniel most popular?
The single biggest year for Oniel was 1993, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Oniel is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Oniel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 701 people with the name Oniel, or 0.23 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,182 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 Oniel 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 Oniel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Oniel leans strongly male. 688 people counted with this name were male (98.9%), compared with 8 female bearers (1.1%). 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 Oniel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Oniel is Hispanic at 46.1%. The next largest groups are Black (44.2%) and White (5.6%). 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 Oniel most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Oniel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 46.1% (323 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 Oniel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Oniel a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Oniel 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 Oniel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Oniel 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 Oniel 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 Oniel as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Oniel on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.