Onesimo
A masculine name of Spanish and Italian origin meaning "beneficial" or "useful".
Name Census estimates that about 414 living Americans carry the first name Onesimo. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Onesimo today is around 44 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Onesimo births was 1982 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Onesimo. 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.
People living today
414
~ 1 in 827,909 Americans
Peak year
1982
16 babies that year
Average age
44
years old
2023 SSA rank
#10,503
Tracked since 1917
Census
Onesimo in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,268 people with the first name Onesimo, which placed it at #10,489 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
#10,489
National first-name rank
People counted
1.3K
1,268 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
96.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Onesimo
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Onesimo is Hispanic at 96.3%. The next largest groups are White (1.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.5%). 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 Onesimo 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 Onesimo at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino96.3% · 1,221
- White1.5% · 19
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 19
- Black or African American0.6% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 2
Popularity
Onesimo: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Onesimo from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 70 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Onesimo 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 Onesimo during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Onesimos live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Texas, California, New Mexico recorded the most babies named Onesimo, while New Mexico, California, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 65 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Onesimo
The name Onesimo has its origins in ancient Greek, derived from the word "onēsimos," which means "helpful" or "beneficial." This name's earliest known historical reference can be traced back to the New Testament of the Bible, where it appears as the name of a slave mentioned in Paul's letter to Philemon.
In the biblical account, Onesimo was a slave who fled from his master, Philemon, but later converted to Christianity and became a follower of Paul. Paul urged Philemon to receive Onesimo back not as a slave, but as a beloved brother in Christ. This story has given the name Onesimo a symbolic meaning of redemption and reconciliation within Christian tradition.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Onesimo was Onesimo Nepomuceno (1770-1829), a Brazilian priest, educator, and philosopher who played a significant role in the development of education in his country. He was a proponent of the Enlightenment ideals and sought to reform the educational system in Brazil.
Another notable figure was Onesimo Redondo (1905-1936), a Spanish politician and leader of the Falange Española, a far-right political movement during the Second Spanish Republic. He was assassinated in 1936, shortly before the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War.
In the realm of literature, Onesimo Silveira (1935-2021) was a renowned Brazilian writer and journalist known for his works that explored the cultural identity and social issues of his native state of Rio Grande do Sul.
Onesimo Aguado (1901-1972) was a Spanish painter and sculptor associated with the Surrealist movement. His works often incorporated elements of fantasy and dreamlike imagery, reflecting the influence of his contemporaries such as Salvador Dalí and Joan Miró.
Lastly, Onesimo Bálor (1888-1939) was a Mexican revolutionary and military leader who fought alongside Emiliano Zapata during the Mexican Revolution. He played a crucial role in the peasant uprising in the state of Morelos and was known for his unwavering commitment to the revolutionary cause.
People
Onesimo + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Onesimo 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
Onesimo: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Onesimo?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 414 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Onesimo 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 827,909 US residents.
Is Onesimo a common name?
We classify Onesimo as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 594 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Onesimo most popular?
The single biggest year for Onesimo was 1982, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Onesimo is about 44 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Onesimo in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,268 people with the name Onesimo, or 0.42 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,489 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 Onesimo 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 Onesimo?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Onesimo appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,270 people counted with this name, 99.4% 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 Onesimo?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Onesimo is Hispanic at 96.3%. The next largest groups are White (1.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.5%). 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 Onesimo most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Onesimo in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.3% (1,221 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 Onesimo in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Onesimo a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Onesimo 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 Onesimo still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Onesimo 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 Onesimo 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 Onesimo as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.