Om
Masculine · “the primordial sound”
Om is the syllable Hindu tradition holds the universe began with — and Sanskrit grammarians analyze it as three sounds fused into one.
How old is the name Om?
Om first appears in US birth records in 1983 — 42 years ago. The typical Om alive today was born around 2011, making them about 14 years old. About 2,300 people named Om are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Om most popular?
Om peaked in 2008, reaching #1169 nationally. Today it ranks #2167, 998 places below that high. See the whole 2008 chart.
Om appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From aum to Om
The story of Om
The Mandukya Upanishad, twelve verses long, is entirely about Om, mapping its three components onto three states of consciousness and its silence onto a fourth. The syllable opens and closes recitation across Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. Om is used as a given name in India and appears in American records in current use.
Meaning
the primordial sound
The Sanskrit syllable aum, traditionally analyzed as a, u and m — three sounds representing creation, preservation and dissolution, or waking, dreaming and deep sleep. The Mandukya Upanishad is devoted entirely to it. The syllable is not a word with a meaning but a sound with a doctrine.
How the name formed
- aum
- Om
Related forms: ॐ · Aum
Pronouncing Om
OHM
One syllable, though traditionally chanted as three fused sounds.
Nicknames for Om
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1983
- Most boys named
- 2008153 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1169reached in 2008
- Change vs 2024
- −2.9%66 in 2025, from 68
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Om in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- ॐ in Sanskrit — transliteration
- Aum in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, New Jersey, Texas.
Oms among us
people named Om are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 25,880 born in 2025 was named Om
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Vincente test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Om's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Vincente climbed just as high around 1979, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Vincente's path sketches the road Om is walking now.
Om sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Om is headed
Om should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Om beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Om in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That a twelve-verse Upanishad is devoted entirely to one syllable is a first-rate fact.
- It is recognized across three religions.
- One syllable, clean, and never mispronounced.
- It is a sacred syllable rather than an ordinary name, which some will weigh.
- It is very short and can be swallowed by a long surname.
- It is a homophone of the electrical ohm.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Om to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Om
Masculine · #2167 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Oms are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,300 people named Om are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Om in 2025?
- Om ranks #2167 among US boy names in 2025, with 66 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Om?
- About 1 in every 25,880 US boys born in 2025 was named Om — 66 in all.
- Will my child share the name Om with classmates?
- Om will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Om
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Johnathon#2167 · Whitaker#2167 · Sir#2167 · Iver#2167 · Binyomin#2167 · June#2167 · Sylus#2167 · Koby#2167
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Om? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Om and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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