Onika
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly derived from Russian or English.
Name Census estimates that about 649 living Americans carry the first name Onika. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Onika today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Onika births was 1975 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Onika. 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 Onika with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
649
~ 1 in 528,127 Americans
Peak year
1975
26 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,045
Tracked since 1968
Census
Onika in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 762 people with the first name Onika, which placed it at #15,178 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
#15,178
National first-name rank
People counted
762
762 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
61.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Onika
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Onika is Black at 61.4%. The next largest groups are White (19.9%) and Hispanic (9.4%). 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 Onika 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 Onika at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American61.4% · 468
- White19.9% · 152
- Hispanic or Latino9.4% · 72
- Two or more races5.2% · 40
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 22
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 8
Popularity
Onika: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Onika from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 161 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Onika 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 Onika during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Onikas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Onika
The name Onika has its origins in the Sanskrit language of ancient India. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "anika," which means "unique" or "unparalleled." The name likely emerged sometime around the 5th century BCE, during the flourishing of the Vedic period in Indian history.
In ancient Hindu texts, such as the Vedas and the Puranas, the name Onika is occasionally mentioned as a name of minor deities or celestial beings. However, there are no major historical figures or characters associated with this name in these ancient scriptures.
The earliest recorded use of the name Onika can be traced back to the 7th century CE, during the Gupta Empire in India. A Sanskrit inscription from this period mentions an individual named Onika, who was a scholar and poet at the court of King Harsha.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Onika remained relatively uncommon, but it was occasionally used by Hindu families, particularly in the northern regions of India. One notable figure who bore this name was Onika Devi, a 13th-century mystic and spiritual teacher from the state of Rajasthan.
As trade and cultural exchange between India and other parts of the world increased during the medieval period, the name Onika also began to appear in other regions, albeit in modified forms. For instance, in the Persian language, it became "Oniqa," and in Arabic, it was written as "Unayqa."
During the 16th century, an Onika was recorded as a prominent musician and composer in the court of the Mughal Emperor Akbar. This Onika is credited with composing several classical ragas and contributing to the development of Hindustani music.
Another historical figure with the name Onika was a 17th-century scholar and poet from the city of Benares (present-day Varanasi). Her poetry, written in Sanskrit and Hindi, explored themes of spirituality and devotion.
In more recent centuries, the name Onika has remained relatively uncommon outside of South Asia. However, it has been used sporadically by individuals of Indian descent living in other parts of the world, often as a way to honor their cultural heritage.
People
Onika + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Onika 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
Onika: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Onika?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 649 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Onika 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 528,127 US residents.
Is Onika a common name?
We classify Onika as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 680 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Onika most popular?
The single biggest year for Onika was 1975, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Onika is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Onika in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 762 people with the name Onika, or 0.25 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,178 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 Onika 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 Onika?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Onika appears almost entirely female. Of the 765 people counted with this name, 99.6% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Onika?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Onika is Black at 61.4%. The next largest groups are White (19.9%) and Hispanic (9.4%). 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 Onika most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Onika in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.4% (468 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 Onika in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Onika a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Onika 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 Onika still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Onika 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 Onika 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 Onika?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.