Osmel
A masculine given name of Spanish origin meaning "divine protector".
Name Census estimates that about 131 living Americans carry the first name Osmel. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Osmel today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Osmel births was 2007 (29 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Osmel. 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
131
~ 1 in 2,616,445 Americans
Peak year
2007
29 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2023 SSA rank
#13,628
Tracked since 1993
Census
Osmel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 746 people with the first name Osmel, which placed it at #15,424 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
#15,424
National first-name rank
People counted
746
746 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
98.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Osmel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Osmel is Hispanic at 98.9%. The next largest groups are Black (0.5%) and White (0.4%). 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 Osmel 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 Osmel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino98.9% · 738
- Black or African American0.5% · 4
- White0.4% · 3
- Two or more races0.1% · 1
Popularity
Osmel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Osmel from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 71 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
Osmel 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 Osmel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Osmels live
Origin
Meaning and history of Osmel
The name Osmel has its origins in the Spanish language, with roots tracing back to the Middle Ages. It is believed to have derived from the Germanic name Osmund, which itself is composed of the elements "os" meaning "divine" and "mund" meaning "protection."
In its earliest forms, the name was spelled as Osmel or Ozmel in various regions of Spain and Portugal. Its usage can be found in historical records and manuscripts from as early as the 12th century, particularly in areas like Galicia and Castile.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name Osmel was a Spanish knight and nobleman who lived in the latter half of the 12th century. While records of his full name and exploits are scarce, he is mentioned in a chronicle of the Reconquista as having participated in campaigns against the Moors in southern Spain.
In the 14th century, an Osmel de Villena was a notable poet and scholar at the court of King Pedro IV of Aragon. His works, which included poetry and treatises on astrology and alchemy, were influential during the Renaissance period in Spain.
Moving into the 16th century, Osmel Ferreira was a Portuguese explorer and navigator who accompanied Ferdinand Magellan on his famous circumnavigation voyage from 1519 to 1522. Ferreira's journals and charts from the expedition provided valuable insights into the exploration of the Pacific Ocean and the discovery of the Strait of Magellan.
In the realm of religion, Osmel Carrillo was a Spanish Catholic priest and missionary who lived in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. He dedicated his life to evangelizing in the Americas, establishing missions and converting indigenous populations to Christianity in regions like Mexico and Guatemala.
Another notable bearer of the name was Osmel Sousa, a Brazilian artist and painter who lived from 1890 to 1972. He was renowned for his vibrant and expressive works, which often depicted scenes from his native country and captured the essence of Brazilian culture and landscapes.
While the name Osmel has seen decreased usage in modern times, it remains a part of the rich cultural heritage of the Spanish-speaking world, with its roots stretching back centuries and its bearers leaving indelible marks on history through their achievements and contributions.
People
Osmel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Osmel 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
Osmel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Osmel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 131 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Osmel 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 2,616,445 US residents.
Is Osmel a common name?
We classify Osmel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 68.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 132 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Osmel most popular?
The single biggest year for Osmel was 2007, when 29 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Osmel is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Osmel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 746 people with the name Osmel, or 0.25 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,424 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 Osmel 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 Osmel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Osmel leans strongly male. 739 people counted with this name were male (98.9%), compared with 8 female bearers (1.1%). 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 Osmel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Osmel is Hispanic at 98.9%. The next largest groups are Black (0.5%) and White (0.4%). 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 Osmel most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Osmel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.9% (738 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 Osmel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Osmel a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Osmel 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 Osmel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Osmel 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 Osmel 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 Americans are named Osmel?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.