Oona
Feminine
Oona is the plain English spelling of Úna, one of the older Irish women's names still in ordinary use. It is short, entirely open, and it has the rare quality of being pronounced correctly by almost everyone who reads it.
How old is the name Oona?
Oona first appears in US birth records in 1942 — 83 years ago. The typical Oona is a kid of about 10 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,700 people named Oona are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Oona most popular?
Oona peaked in 2015, reaching #1636 nationally. Today it ranks #2751, 1,115 places below that high. See the whole 2015 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Úna to Oona
The story of Oona
Úna appears in medieval Irish literature and stayed in continuous use in Ireland long after most names of that age had gone. In some tellings she is a queen of the fairy people, wife of Finnbheara — which is where the alternative spelling Oonagh comes from and why the name has a slight otherworldly cast in Irish tradition. English speakers found the accented Ú awkward and wrote it as they heard it: Oona, Una, Oonagh. The double-o spelling is the one that survives the crossing best, because it tells an English reader exactly what to do.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Úna is old enough that its meaning has been argued rather than established. Irish uan, 'lamb', has been proposed, and so has ún, connected to hunger — an unlikely thing to name a daughter, though early Irish naming is not always gentle. A resemblance to Latin una, 'one', is probably coincidence rather than source. Nobody has settled it, and the name is considerably older than any of the explanations offered for it.
How the name formed
- Úna
- Oona
Related forms: Úna · Oonagh · Ùna
Pronouncing Oona
OO-nah
Two syllables, stress on the first, the opening a long oo as in moon. The Irish Úna is said the same way — the accent on the U is what tells an Irish reader to lengthen it, and the double o does the same job in English.
Nicknames for Oona
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
- 1942
- Most girls named
- 2015131 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1636reached in 2015
- Change vs 2024
- −15.1%62 in 2025, from 73
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.
Oona in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Úna in Irish — spelling variant
- Oonagh in Irish — spelling variant
- Ùna in Scottish Gaelic — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, New York, Washington.
Oonas among us
people named Oona are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 25,924 born in 2025 was named Oona
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Oona
- #2751
- Oona on the 2025 chart
- #865
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Oona went to 62 girls in 2025, but Ona and Onna are the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 95, which makes it the 865th most-given girls’ name of the year — 1,886 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 16,919 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 25,924 for Oona itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Michela test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Oona's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Michela climbed just as high around 1998, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Michela's path sketches the road Oona is walking now.
Oona 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 Oona is headed
Oona should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low 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.
Oona beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Oona in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Said correctly on sight by English and Irish speakers alike, which the accented spelling is not.
- A genuinely old Irish name with continuous use rather than a modern revival.
- Four letters and two open syllables, which sit easily in front of any surname.
- Its meaning has never been established, so a page offering one is choosing among guesses.
- Oona, Una and Oonagh are all in use, and Una will be read as OO-nah or YOO-nah depending on the reader.
- It is very short, and there is no longer formal version to fall back on.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Oona to the vote.
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What they receive
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Oona
Feminine · #2751 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Oonas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,700 people named Oona are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Oona?
- Oona is the most-used spelling in US records — 62 of the 95 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Ona and Onna.
- How popular is the name Oona in 2025?
- Oona ranks #2751 among US girl names in 2025, with 62 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Oona?
- About 1 in every 25,924 US girls born in 2025 was named Oona — 62 in all.
- Will my child share the name Oona with classmates?
- Oona will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Oona
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Emmersyn#2751 · Allisson#2751 · Runa#2751 · Cloe#2751 · Emeline#2751 · Annalynn#2751 · Anisa#2751 · Nya#2751
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Oona? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Oona and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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