Oona
Of Irish origin, meaning "lamb" or "one".
Name Census estimates that about 1,664 living Americans carry the first name Oona. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Oona today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Oona births was 2015 (131 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Oona. 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
- • Oona is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.7K
~ 1 in 205,982 Americans
Peak year
2015
131 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,474
Tracked since 1942
Popularity
Oona: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Oona from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 718 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Oona remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Oona 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 Oona during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Oonas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 15 states and territories. California, New York, Washington recorded the most babies named Oona, while Utah, Ohio, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 42 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Oona
The name Oona is believed to have its origins in the Irish language, where it is derived from the Gaelic word "uan," meaning "lamb." The name was popular in Ireland and other Celtic regions during the Middle Ages and has been used as a given name for both males and females.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Oona can be found in the Ulster Annals, a collection of medieval Irish chronicles dating back to the 15th century. The Annals mention an individual named Oona O'Neill, who lived in the late 15th century and was a member of the powerful O'Neill dynasty in Ulster.
In the 16th century, the name Oona gained prominence through its association with St. Oona (also spelled Ona or Una), an Irish nun and abbess who lived in the 6th century. St. Oona founded a convent in County Antrim and is venerated in the Catholic Church for her piety and dedication to religious life.
One of the most notable historical figures with the name Oona was Oona O'Neill, the daughter of the famous American playwright Eugene O'Neill. Born in 1925, Oona O'Neill gained notoriety for her marriage to British actor Charlie Chaplin, who was 36 years her senior. Their union caused a significant public scandal due to the age gap but lasted until Chaplin's death in 1977.
Another prominent individual with the name Oona was Oona King, a British politician and former Member of Parliament for the Labour Party. Born in 1967, King served as the MP for Bethnal Green and Bow from 1997 to 2005 and was known for her advocacy on issues related to racial equality and social justice.
In the world of literature, Oona Frawley was an Irish-American writer and journalist who lived from 1913 to 1990. She was known for her short stories and novels, which often explored themes of Irish-American identity and the immigrant experience.
While the name Oona has Irish roots, it has also been adopted in other cultures and regions around the world. For instance, Oona Chaplin, a Spanish actress born in 1986, is the granddaughter of Charlie Chaplin and Oona O'Neill. Her name serves as a testament to the enduring influence of this unique and historically significant moniker.
People
Oona + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Oona 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
Oona: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Oona?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,664 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Oona 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 205,982 US residents.
Is Oona a common name?
We classify Oona as "Rare". It ranks above 92.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,712 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Oona most popular?
The single biggest year for Oona was 2015, when 131 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Oona is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Oona a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Oona 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.
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.