Osha
A Native American name meaning "footstep".
Name Census estimates that about 345 living Americans carry the first name Osha. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 76.6% of registrations being female. The average person named Osha today is around 33 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Osha births was 1993 (33 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Osha. 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 Osha with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
345
~ 1 in 993,491 Americans
Peak year
1993
33 babies that year
Average age
33
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,668
Tracked since 1924
Census
Osha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 365 people with the first name Osha, which placed it at #25,801 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
#25,801
National first-name rank
People counted
365
365 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
59.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Osha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Osha is Black at 59.2%. The next largest groups are White (26.6%) and Two or More Races (7.4%). 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 Osha 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 Osha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American59.2% · 216
- White26.6% · 97
- Two or more races7.4% · 27
- Hispanic or Latino4.1% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Osha
Osha is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 364 total registrations, 85 (23.4%) were male and 279 (76.6%) were female.
Osha as a male name
- Ranked #13,668 in 2024
- 5 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1993 (19 births)
Osha as a female name
- Ranked #17,142 in 2022
- 5 female births in 2022
- Peak: 1989 (16 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Osha on both sides of the split. Of the 366 people counted with this name, 100 were male (27.3%) and 266 were female (72.7%).
Popularity
Osha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Osha from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 186 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
Osha 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 Osha 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 Osha
The name Osha is believed to have its origins in the Sanskrit language, which was prevalent in ancient India. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "oshadhi," which means "herb" or "medicinal plant." The name is thought to have been primarily used in parts of the Indian subcontinent during the Vedic period, which spanned from around 1500 BCE to 500 BCE.
In Hinduism, the term "oshadhi" is sometimes used to refer to plants with healing properties, and it is possible that the name Osha was given to individuals who had a connection with medicinal herbs or were involved in their cultivation or use. However, there is limited historical evidence to support any specific references to the name in ancient Hindu scriptures or texts.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Osha can be found in the Indian epic poem, the Mahabharata, which dates back to around the 8th century BCE. In the text, there is a character named Osha, who is described as a skilled healer and herbalist. However, it is unclear whether this character was based on a real person or was a fictional creation.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Osha. One such person was Osha Siddiqui (1922-1994), a Pakistani politician and diplomat who served as the Foreign Minister of Pakistan from 1977 to 1982. Another was Osha Davidson (1896-1977), an American actress and vaudeville performer who appeared in several Broadway productions and films during the early 20th century.
In the realm of literature, Osha Neumann (1920-2002) was a German-born American author and poet who wrote extensively about her experiences as a Holocaust survivor. Her memoir, "And Life Is Courage," published in 1986, received critical acclaim for its poignant portrayal of resilience in the face of adversity.
Osha Al-Mardi (1957-2016) was an Iraqi artist and sculptor who gained recognition for his distinctive style, blending traditional Iraqi motifs with modern techniques. His works have been exhibited in galleries around the world and are held in several prestigious collections.
Lastly, Osha Turen (born 1944) is an American photographer and artist known for her evocative black-and-white portraits and her exploration of themes related to identity and the human condition. Her work has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions, and she has received several awards and accolades throughout her career.
People
Osha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Osha 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
Osha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Osha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 345 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Osha 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 993,491 US residents.
Is Osha a common name?
We classify Osha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 364 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Osha most popular?
The single biggest year for Osha was 1993, when 33 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Osha is about 33 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Osha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 365 people with the name Osha, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,801 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 Osha 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 Osha?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Osha on both sides of the split. Of the 366 people counted with this name, 100 were male (27.3%) and 266 were female (72.7%). 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 Osha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Osha is Black at 59.2%. The next largest groups are White (26.6%) and Two or More Races (7.4%). 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 Osha most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Osha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 59.2% (216 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 Osha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Osha a female name?
Yes, 76.6% of people registered as Osha 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 Osha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Osha 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 Osha 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 Osha?
You can see how many Americans are named Osha on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.