Opeyemi
An African name meaning "Child brings happiness".
Name Census estimates that about 48 living Americans carry the first name Opeyemi. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 61.2% of registrations being female. The average person named Opeyemi today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Opeyemi births was 2003 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Opeyemi. 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 Opeyemi with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Opeyemi. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
48
~ 1 in 7,140,715 Americans
Peak year
2003
15 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2003 SSA rank
#8,416
Tracked since 1996
Census
Opeyemi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 728 people with the first name Opeyemi, which placed it at #15,712 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
#15,712
National first-name rank
People counted
728
728 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
97.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Opeyemi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Opeyemi is Black at 97.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.1%) and White (0.7%). 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 Opeyemi 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 Opeyemi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American97.5% · 710
- Hispanic or Latino1.1% · 8
- White0.7% · 5
- Two or more races0.4% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.1% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Opeyemi
Opeyemi is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 49 total registrations, 19 (38.8%) were male and 30 (61.2%) were female.
Opeyemi as a male name
- Ranked #8,416 in 2003
- 8 male births in 2003
- Peak: 2003 (8 births)
Opeyemi as a female name
- Ranked #16,446 in 2010
- 6 female births in 2010
- Peak: 2003 (7 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Opeyemi on both sides of the split. Of the 723 people counted with this name, 331 were male (45.8%) and 392 were female (54.2%).
Popularity
Opeyemi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Opeyemi from the 1990s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 38 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Opeyemi 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 Opeyemi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Opeyemi
The name Opeyemi originates from the Yoruba language spoken in southwestern Nigeria and parts of Benin. It is a compound name composed of two words, "Ope" meaning "gratitude" or "thanks," and "Yemi" meaning "life." Together, Opeyemi can be interpreted as "My gratitude for life" or "Thanks for this life."
This name has been in use among the Yoruba people for centuries, dating back to the medieval period when the Yoruba kingdoms flourished in the region. Its roots can be traced back to the Yoruba belief system and worldview, which emphasizes gratitude and reverence for the gift of life.
While there are no known ancient texts or scriptures that directly reference the name Opeyemi, it is deeply rooted in the cultural traditions and oral histories passed down through generations of Yoruba storytellers and elders.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Opeyemi can be found in the writings of Samuel Ajayi Crowther, a Yoruba linguist and the first African Anglican bishop in Nigeria, who lived from 1809 to 1891. Crowther's works played a significant role in documenting and preserving the Yoruba language and culture.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Opeyemi, including:
1. Opeyemi Awolowo (1905-1992), a Nigerian politician and diplomat who served as the Federal Commissioner for Finance and the Governor of the Western Region of Nigeria.
2. Opeyemi Bamidele (born 1960), a Nigerian politician and member of the House of Representatives, representing the Ekiti North Federal Constituency.
3. Opeyemi Ogunlola (born 1981), a Nigerian footballer who played as a striker for clubs in Nigeria, Sweden, and Norway.
4. Opeyemi Adebola (born 1985), a Nigerian-British former professional footballer who played as a striker for various clubs in England and Scotland.
5. Opeyemi Olagunju (born 1990), a Nigerian sprinter who specializes in the 100 meters and 200 meters events.
These individuals, spanning different eras and professions, exemplify the enduring legacy of the name Opeyemi and its deep roots in the Yoruba culture and history.
People
Opeyemi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Opeyemi 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
Opeyemi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Opeyemi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 48 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Opeyemi 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 7,140,715 US residents.
Is Opeyemi a common name?
We classify Opeyemi as "Very Rare". It ranks above 53.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 49 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Opeyemi most popular?
The single biggest year for Opeyemi was 2003, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Opeyemi is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Opeyemi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 728 people with the name Opeyemi, or 0.24 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,712 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 Opeyemi 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 Opeyemi?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Opeyemi on both sides of the split. Of the 723 people counted with this name, 331 were male (45.8%) and 392 were female (54.2%). 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 Opeyemi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Opeyemi is Black at 97.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.1%) and White (0.7%). 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 Opeyemi most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Opeyemi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.5% (710 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 Opeyemi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Opeyemi a female name?
Yes, 61.2% of people registered as Opeyemi 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 Opeyemi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Opeyemi 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 Opeyemi 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 are called Opeyemi?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.