Onyx
A feminine name derived from the Greek word onyx meaning "black gemstone".
Name Census estimates that about 7,518 living Americans carry the first name Onyx. It sits at #358 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 78.5% of registrations being male. The average person named Onyx today is around 7 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Onyx births was 2023 (1,269 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Onyx. 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 Onyx with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Onyx is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 7 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
7.5K
~ 1 in 45,591 Americans
Peak year
2023
1,269 babies that year
Average age
7
years old
2024 SSA rank
#358
Tracked since 1918
Census
Onyx in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,346 people with the first name Onyx, which placed it at #6,742 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
#6,742
National first-name rank
People counted
2.3K
2,346 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
33.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Onyx
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Onyx is White at 33.8%. The next largest groups are Black (26.8%) and Hispanic (22.5%). 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 Onyx 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 Onyx at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White33.8% · 794
- Black or African American26.8% · 628
- Hispanic or Latino22.5% · 528
- Two or more races12.7% · 298
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 59
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 39
Gender
Gender distribution for Onyx
Onyx is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 7,581 total registrations, 5,954 (78.5%) were male and 1,627 (21.5%) were female.
Onyx as a male name
- Ranked #358 in 2024
- 927 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (1,077 births)
Onyx as a female name
- Ranked #1,248 in 2024
- 186 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (192 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Onyx on both sides of the split. Of the 2,349 people counted with this name, 1,639 were male (69.8%) and 710 were female (30.2%).
Popularity
Onyx: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Onyx from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 4,989 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Onyx 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 Onyx during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Onyx' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 44 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Onyx, while Delaware, District of Columbia, South Dakota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 127 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Onyx
The name Onyx is derived from the Greek word "onyx," which means "nail" or "claw." It refers to the precious gemstone of the same name, which is a variety of chalcedony quartz with parallel bands of different colors. The name Onyx has been in use since ancient times, and its origins can be traced back to the Greek culture.
In Greek mythology, the onyx was believed to have been created from the fingernails of the goddess Venus. It was considered a symbol of strength, protection, and endurance. The name Onyx was likely given to individuals who were perceived to possess these qualities or who had a connection to the gemstone.
The earliest recorded use of the name Onyx dates back to the 5th century BC. In ancient Greek literature, the name appears in various texts, including the works of playwrights such as Aeschylus and Sophocles. However, it was not a common name during that time period.
One of the earliest known historical figures with the name Onyx was a Greek sculptor who lived in the 5th century BC. He was renowned for his works in marble and is believed to have created several notable sculptures that adorned public buildings in ancient Greece.
In the Middle Ages, the name Onyx became more widespread, particularly in Europe. One notable historical figure with this name was Onyx of Trier, a 6th-century bishop and saint in what is now modern-day Germany. He was known for his charitable works and dedication to the Church.
During the Renaissance period, the name Onyx gained popularity among artists and intellectuals who were fascinated by the gemstone's beauty and symbolism. One prominent figure with this name was Onyx Tiziano, an Italian painter and contemporary of the famous artist Titian, who lived in the 16th century.
In the 19th century, the name Onyx experienced a resurgence in popularity, particularly in the United States. One notable American figure with this name was Onyx Longfellow, a distant relative of the renowned poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who lived from 1839 to 1912. She was a prominent suffragette and activist for women's rights.
Another notable individual with the name Onyx was Onyx Welles, a British explorer and adventurer who lived from 1860 to 1932. He was known for his daring expeditions to remote regions of Africa and Asia and wrote several books about his travels.
People
Onyx + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Onyx 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
Onyx: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Onyx?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7,518 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Onyx 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 45,591 US residents.
Is Onyx a common name?
We classify Onyx as "Rare". It ranks above 97.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 7,581 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Onyx most popular?
The single biggest year for Onyx was 2023, when 1,269 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Onyx is about 7 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Onyx in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,346 people with the name Onyx, or 0.78 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,742 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 Onyx 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 Onyx?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Onyx on both sides of the split. Of the 2,349 people counted with this name, 1,639 were male (69.8%) and 710 were female (30.2%). 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 Onyx?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Onyx is White at 33.8%. The next largest groups are Black (26.8%) and Hispanic (22.5%). 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 Onyx most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Onyx in the 2020 Census, accounting for 33.8% (794 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 Onyx in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Onyx a male name?
Yes, 78.5% of people registered as Onyx 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 Onyx still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Onyx 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 Onyx 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 Onyx?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.