Ozella
A feminine name of unknown origin and meaning.
Name Census estimates that about 445 living Americans carry the first name Ozella. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ozella today is around 68 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ozella births was 1921 (73 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ozella. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Ozella is about 68 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Ozellas were born before 1968.
People living today
445
~ 1 in 770,234 Americans
Peak year
1921
73 babies that year
Average age
68
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,050
Tracked since 1881
Census
Ozella in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 580 people with the first name Ozella, which placed it at #18,544 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
#18,544
National first-name rank
People counted
580
580 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
66.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ozella
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ozella is Black at 66.2%. The next largest groups are White (25.0%) and Hispanic (4.3%). 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 Ozella 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 Ozella at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American66.2% · 384
- White25.0% · 145
- Hispanic or Latino4.3% · 25
- Two or more races2.2% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 5
Popularity
Ozella: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ozella from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 589 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ozella 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 Ozella during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ozellas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. Alabama, Texas, Georgia recorded the most babies named Ozella, while Pennsylvania, South Carolina, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 76 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ozella
The given name Ozella is derived from the Greek word "ozos," which means "branch" or "twig." It is believed to have originated in the Byzantine Empire during the late Middle Ages, around the 13th or 14th century. The name was initially popular among Greek communities in the Anatolian region, modern-day Turkey, and later spread to other parts of the Byzantine Empire.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ozella can be found in a Greek manuscript from the 15th century, which mentions a woman named Ozella who was a member of the aristocracy in Constantinople. The name's association with the Byzantine Empire suggests that it may have held cultural or symbolic significance during that period.
In the 16th century, a Byzantine noblewoman named Ozella Palaiologina was recorded as being part of the court of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in the Ottoman Empire. This suggests that the name had gained some recognition beyond the Byzantine Empire and was used by individuals of high social status.
During the 18th century, a Greek poet and scholar named Ozella Katramis gained recognition for her works celebrating Greek culture and literature. She was born in 1735 in Smyrna (modern-day Izmir, Turkey) and was known for her contributions to the Greek Enlightenment movement.
Another notable figure with the name Ozella was Ozella Wilkinson, an American author and activist born in 1841 in Massachusetts. She was involved in the women's suffrage movement and wrote several books advocating for women's rights and education.
In the late 19th century, Ozella Michaux, a French painter and sculptor, gained recognition for her works depicting rural life and landscapes. She was born in 1869 in the village of Barbizon, known for its artistic community.
While the name Ozella is not as common today, it holds a rich history and cultural significance, particularly in its connection to the Byzantine Empire and the Greek-speaking world. Its meaning, derived from the word "ozos," evokes a sense of natural beauty and growth.
People
Ozella + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ozella 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
Ozella: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ozella?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 445 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ozella 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 770,234 US residents.
Is Ozella a common name?
We classify Ozella as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,331 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ozella most popular?
The single biggest year for Ozella was 1921, when 73 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ozella is about 68 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ozella in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 580 people with the name Ozella, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,544 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 Ozella 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 Ozella?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ozella appears almost entirely female. Of the 580 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Ozella?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ozella is Black at 66.2%. The next largest groups are White (25.0%) and Hispanic (4.3%). 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 Ozella most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Ozella in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.2% (384 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 Ozella in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ozella a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ozella 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 Ozella still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ozella 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 Ozella 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 Ozella?
Want to know how many people share the name Ozella? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.