Oma
Of German origin, meaning "grandmother".
Name Census estimates that about 1,194 living Americans carry the first name Oma. It is a predominantly female name (98.1% of registrations). The average person named Oma today is around 75 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Oma births was 1916 (294 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Oma. 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
- • Although Oma is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 181 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • The typical person named Oma is about 75 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Omas were born before 1961.
People living today
1.2K
~ 1 in 287,064 Americans
Peak year
1916
294 babies that year
Average age
75
years old
1976 SSA rank
#6,224
Tracked since 1880
Census
Oma in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,972 people with the first name Oma, which placed it at #7,656 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
#7,656
National first-name rank
People counted
2.0K
1,972 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
69.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Oma
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Oma is White at 69.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (10.4%) and Black (10.3%). 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 Oma 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 Oma at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White69.9% · 1,378
- Asian and Pacific Islander10.4% · 205
- Black or African American10.3% · 203
- Hispanic or Latino5.2% · 103
- Two or more races3.2% · 64
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 19
Gender
Gender distribution for Oma
Oma leans heavily female at 98.1% of total registrations, but 181 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Oma as a male name
- Ranked #6,224 in 1976
- 5 male births in 1976
- Peak: 1923 (11 births)
Oma as a female name
- Ranked #17,520 in 2018
- 5 female births in 2018
- Peak: 1916 (284 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Oma leans strongly female. 1,812 people counted with this name were female (92.1%), compared with 156 male bearers (7.9%).
Popularity
Oma: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Oma from the 1880s through to the 2010s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 2,301 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Oma 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 Oma during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Omas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 24 states and territories. Kentucky, Texas, Oklahoma recorded the most babies named Oma, while New Mexico, Michigan, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 222 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Oma
The name Oma has its origins in the German language. It is a diminutive form of the name Anna, which is derived from the Hebrew name Hannah, meaning "grace" or "favor." The name Oma was commonly used as a term of endearment for grandmothers in German-speaking regions.
One of the earliest known references to the name Oma can be found in the Bible. In the Book of 1 Samuel, Hannah is the mother of the prophet Samuel. While the name Oma itself is not mentioned, the connection to the name Hannah suggests a long-standing tradition of this name in religious and cultural contexts.
The earliest recorded examples of the name Oma as a given name can be traced back to the Middle Ages in German-speaking regions. During this period, it was not uncommon for grandmothers to be addressed as Oma by their families and communities.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Oma. One such individual was Oma Rem, a German painter and printmaker who lived from 1910 to 1996. Her works often depicted everyday life and landscapes, and she was renowned for her etchings and woodcuts.
Another notable Oma was Oma Stanley, a Choctaw Nation writer and activist who lived from 1890 to 1993. She was an advocate for Native American rights and worked to preserve the Choctaw language and cultural traditions. Her autobiographical work, "The Clown in the Outhouse," is a seminal work in Native American literature.
In the realm of science, Oma Munson was an American geologist and paleontologist who lived from 1891 to 1977. She made significant contributions to the understanding of fossil invertebrates and was a pioneer in her field, breaking barriers for women in science.
Oma Desala was a South African anti-apartheid activist and politician who lived from 1939 to 2019. She played a crucial role in the struggle against racial segregation and was a member of the African National Congress, serving in various leadership roles.
Lastly, Oma Kalsum was an Indonesian singer and actress who lived from 1927 to 1988. She was renowned for her contributions to the Indonesian music industry and was celebrated as a national icon for her performances and recordings.
These individuals, spanning various professions and time periods, exemplify the diverse backgrounds and achievements associated with the name Oma throughout history.
People
Oma + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Oma 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
Oma: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Oma?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,194 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Oma 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 287,064 US residents.
Is Oma a common name?
We classify Oma as "Rare". It ranks above 91.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 9,779 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Oma most popular?
The single biggest year for Oma was 1916, when 294 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Oma is about 75 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Oma in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,972 people with the name Oma, or 0.65 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,656 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 Oma 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 Oma?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Oma leans strongly female. 1,812 people counted with this name were female (92.1%), compared with 156 male bearers (7.9%). 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 Oma?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Oma is White at 69.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (10.4%) and Black (10.3%). 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 Oma most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Oma in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.9% (1,378 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 Oma in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Oma a female name?
Yes, 98.1% of people registered as Oma 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 Oma still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Oma 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 Oma 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 Oma as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Oma, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.