Othniel
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "strength/might of God".
Name Census estimates that about 656 living Americans carry the first name Othniel. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Othniel today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Othniel births was 2018 (64 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Othniel. 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 Othniel with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
656
~ 1 in 522,491 Americans
Peak year
2018
64 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,746
Tracked since 1924
Census
Othniel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 665 people with the first name Othniel, which placed it at #16,809 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
#16,809
National first-name rank
People counted
665
665 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
63.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Othniel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Othniel is Black at 63.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.7%) and White (14.4%). 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 Othniel 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 Othniel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American63.6% · 423
- Hispanic or Latino14.7% · 98
- White14.4% · 96
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.4% · 29
- Two or more races2.1% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 5
Popularity
Othniel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Othniel from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 325 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Othniel remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Othniel 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 Othniel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Othniels live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. Texas, New Jersey, New York recorded the most babies named Othniel, while Washington, Ohio, Maryland recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 11 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Othniel
The name Othniel has Hebrew origins and can be traced back to the Bible's Old Testament. It is derived from the Hebrew words "owthen" meaning "force" or "strength" and "el" meaning "God". The name essentially translates to "lion of God" or "strength of God".
Othniel is a relatively rare name, but it has been used throughout history. One of the earliest and most notable references comes from the Book of Judges in the Old Testament. Othniel was one of the leaders of the Israelites and the first of the Biblical judges who ruled after the conquest of Canaan. He is credited with delivering the Israelites from the king of Aram and establishing a period of peace that lasted for 40 years.
The name remained in use among Hebrew communities for centuries after its Biblical origins. Othniel ben Kenaz, a Jewish scholar and sage from the 2nd century CE, is considered one of the earliest recorded individuals to bear the name outside of the Bible.
During the Middle Ages, the name saw some use among European Christians, likely due to its Biblical roots. One notable example is Othniel Norwood Gillett, an English clergyman and academic who served as the President of Harvard College from 1819 to 1836.
In the 19th century, the name became more popular in the United States, particularly among Protestant communities. Othniel Marsh, an American paleontologist and one of the leading scientists of his time, was born in 1831. He is best known for his extensive studies of prehistoric life and his rivalry with Edward Drinker Cope, which became known as the "Bone Wars".
Another notable figure was Othniel Charles Marsh, born in 1815, an American jurist who served as the Chief Justice of the New York Supreme Court from 1859 to 1862.
In more recent times, the name has remained relatively rare, but a few individuals have carried it forward. Othniel Askew was a British athlete and two-time Olympic medalist in the early 20th century, winning silver in the 4x100m relay at the 1908 London Olympics and gold in the same event at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics.
People
Othniel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Othniel 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
Othniel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Othniel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 656 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Othniel 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 522,491 US residents.
Is Othniel a common name?
We classify Othniel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 668 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Othniel most popular?
The single biggest year for Othniel was 2018, when 64 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Othniel is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Othniel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 665 people with the name Othniel, or 0.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,809 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 Othniel 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 Othniel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Othniel appears almost entirely male. Of the 657 people counted with this name, 99.2% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Othniel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Othniel is Black at 63.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.7%) and White (14.4%). 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 Othniel most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Othniel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 63.6% (423 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 Othniel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Othniel a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Othniel 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 Othniel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Othniel 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 Othniel 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 Othniel as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Othniel, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.