Osias
A masculine given name of Hebrew origin meaning "helped by Yahweh".
Name Census estimates that about 388 living Americans carry the first name Osias. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Osias today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Osias births was 2016 (37 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Osias. 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 Osias with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
388
~ 1 in 883,387 Americans
Peak year
2016
37 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,146
Tracked since 2004
Census
Osias in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 370 people with the first name Osias, which placed it at #25,584 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
#25,584
National first-name rank
People counted
370
370 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
46.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Osias
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Osias is Hispanic at 46.2%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (17.6%) and White (15.7%). 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 Osias 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 Osias at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino46.2% · 171
- Asian and Pacific Islander17.6% · 65
- White15.7% · 58
- Black or African American13.5% · 50
- Two or more races4.6% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.4% · 9
Popularity
Osias: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Osias from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 217 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Osias remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Osias 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 Osias during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Osias' live
Origin
Meaning and history of Osias
The given name Osias has its origins in the Greek language, derived from the Hebrew name Hoshea, meaning "salvation" or "deliverance". It is believed to have emerged during the Hellenistic period, which spanned from the 4th century BCE to the 1st century BCE, when Greek culture and language spread throughout the Mediterranean region.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Osias can be found in the Bible, specifically in the Book of Ezra. Osias is mentioned as a Levite who helped to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile. This biblical reference dates back to the 5th century BCE.
In the New Testament, Osias is referenced as the father of Jehiel, one of the ancestors of Jesus Christ, as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew. This reference suggests that the name was still in use during the 1st century CE.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Osias. In the 9th century CE, Osias of Cordoba was a Christian martyr and saint who was executed for his faith during the Muslim rule in Spain. Another Osias of note was a 12th-century theologian and abbot of the Cistercian monastery in Tres Fontanes, Italy.
During the Renaissance period, Osias Beert (1580-1624) was a renowned Flemish painter known for his still-life paintings, particularly those featuring flowers and fruit. In the 17th century, Osias Foderingham (1608-1691) was an English mathematician and astronomer who made contributions to the study of comets.
In the 19th century, Osias Petit (1800-1868) was a French architect renowned for his neoclassical designs, including the Petit Palais in Paris. Osias Duffield (1826-1888) was an American businessman and politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Michigan.
These examples illustrate the enduring use of the name Osias throughout various cultures and time periods, highlighting its historical significance and diverse associations across different fields and regions.
People
Osias + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Osias 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
Osias: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Osias?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 388 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Osias 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 883,387 US residents.
Is Osias a common name?
We classify Osias as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 391 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Osias most popular?
The single biggest year for Osias was 2016, when 37 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Osias is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Osias in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 370 people with the name Osias, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,584 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 Osias 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 Osias?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Osias appears almost entirely male. Of the 367 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Osias?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Osias is Hispanic at 46.2%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (17.6%) and White (15.7%). 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 Osias most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Osias in the 2020 Census, accounting for 46.2% (171 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 Osias in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Osias a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Osias 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 Osias still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Osias 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 Osias 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 named Osias?
Find out how many Americans are named Osias on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.