Oshay
Of Native American origin meaning "brave, fearless warrior."
Name Census estimates that about 430 living Americans carry the first name Oshay. It is a predominantly male name (91.1% of registrations). The average person named Oshay today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Oshay births was 1992 (46 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Oshay. 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 Oshay with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
430
~ 1 in 797,103 Americans
Peak year
1992
46 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,608
Tracked since 1980
Census
Oshay in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 359 people with the first name Oshay, which placed it at #26,116 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
#26,116
National first-name rank
People counted
359
359 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
81.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Oshay
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Oshay is Black at 81.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.7%) and Hispanic (6.1%). 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 Oshay 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 Oshay at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American81.1% · 291
- Two or more races6.7% · 24
- Hispanic or Latino6.1% · 22
- White3.9% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.9% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Oshay
Oshay leans heavily male at 91.1% of total registrations, but 39 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Oshay as a male name
- Ranked #9,608 in 2024
- 8 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1994 (45 births)
Oshay as a female name
- Ranked #11,463 in 1996
- 7 female births in 1996
- Peak: 1992 (12 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Oshay leans strongly male. 293 people counted with this name were male (82.5%), compared with 62 female bearers (17.5%).
Popularity
Oshay: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Oshay from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 258 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Oshay 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 Oshay during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Oshays live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. California, Georgia, Illinois recorded the most babies named Oshay, while Texas, Ohio, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 6 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Oshay
The name Oshay is believed to have its origins in West Africa, particularly in the Yoruba language spoken in present-day Nigeria. It is thought to be derived from the Yoruba word "ọṣọ́," which means "source" or "origin." The name likely emerged in the 15th or 16th century during the height of the Yoruba civilization in the region.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Oshay can be found in the oral traditions and folktales of the Yoruba people, where it was sometimes used as a symbolic name representing the cultural and spiritual roots of the community. However, there are no known references to the name in ancient texts or religious scriptures from that time period.
The first recorded individual with the name Oshay was a Yoruba warrior and leader named Oshay Adebayo, who lived in the late 17th century and played a significant role in the defense of the Oyo Empire against neighboring kingdoms. Another notable figure was Oshay Oluwole, a prominent Yoruba trader and merchant from the 18th century, who established trade routes throughout West Africa.
In the 19th century, Oshay Adeniran (1822-1879) was a renowned Yoruba historian and oral tradition keeper, known for his extensive knowledge of the Yoruba culture and history. His works helped preserve the stories and legends of the Yoruba people for future generations.
During the 20th century, the name gained more widespread recognition with individuals like Oshay Granger (1909-1989), a pioneering African-American actress and singer who performed on Broadway and in several Hollywood films. Oshay Okolo (1943-2011) was a prominent Nigerian sculptor and artist, renowned for his intricate wood carvings and sculptures that depicted traditional Yoruba themes and motifs.
Another notable figure was Oshay Adebanjo (1928-2022), a Nigerian politician and human rights activist who played a significant role in the struggle for democracy in Nigeria and served as the Secretary-General of the Pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organization Afenifere.
While the name Oshay has its roots in the Yoruba culture of West Africa, it has also been adopted and used by people from various other cultural backgrounds around the world, particularly those with African ancestry or connections to the African diaspora.
People
Oshay + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Oshay 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
Oshay: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Oshay?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 430 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Oshay 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 797,103 US residents.
Is Oshay a common name?
We classify Oshay as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 439 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Oshay most popular?
The single biggest year for Oshay was 1992, when 46 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Oshay is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Oshay in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 359 people with the name Oshay, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,116 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 Oshay 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 Oshay?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Oshay leans strongly male. 293 people counted with this name were male (82.5%), compared with 62 female bearers (17.5%). 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 Oshay?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Oshay is Black at 81.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.7%) and Hispanic (6.1%). 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 Oshay most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Oshay in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.1% (291 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 Oshay in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Oshay a male name?
Yes, 91.1% of people registered as Oshay 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 Oshay still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Oshay 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 Oshay 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 Oshay?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.