Opal
Feminine · “the gemstone opal”
Opal is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 73,539 girls against 718 boys since 1880. See Opal as a boy name
Opal is one of the gem names that came into American use around the turn of the last century, was given to daughters and sons both, and has come back into ordinary use after a long absence. The stone it names turns out to work in a way nobody could explain until there was a microscope good enough to see it.
How old is the name Opal?
Opal was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Opal alive today was born around 1921, making them about 104 years old. About 15,000 people named Opal are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Opal most popular?
Opal peaked in 1911, reaching #81 nationally. Today it ranks #423, 342 places below that high. See the whole 1911 chart.
Where it comes from
From upala to Opal
The story of Opal
An opal is not a crystal. It is silica that never organized itself into one — hardened jelly, in effect, holding as much as a fifth of its weight in water, which is why an opal can craze and crack if it dries out. The colors are not a pigment and not an impurity. Under an electron microscope, which is what it took to settle the question in the nineteen-sixties, a precious opal is made of microscopic spheres of silica stacked in a regular three-dimensional array, like oranges in a crate. Light entering the stack is diffracted by it, and the size of the spheres decides which colors come back: small spheres give blues, larger ones reach red. Common opal has the same chemistry and randomly sized spheres, so it does nothing. The difference between a stone worth thousands and a stone worth nothing is whether a jelly happened to set tidily.
Meaningscholars disagree
the gemstone opal
The name is the stone's, and the stone's own name is disputed. One account traces it through Latin opalus from a Sanskrit word for a stone or a jewel; another derives it from a Greek word about seeing. The two are not compatible and neither has been settled.
How the name formed
- upala
- opalus
- Opal
Related forms: Opale · Opal
Pronouncing Opal
OH-pul
Two syllables with the stress at the front. The second syllable is reduced almost to nothing, which is why it is sometimes written with an e or an a in older records.
Nicknames for Opal
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
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 19182,847 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #81reached in 1911
- Change vs 2022
- +24.4%740 in 2025, from 595
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.
Opal in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Opale in French — same name
- Opal in German — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Oregon.
Opals among us
people named Opal are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 2,172 born in 2025 was named Opal
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Opal is on its second act. Revived names age gently: the generation that wore them first is far enough away that the name feels classic rather than dated.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Opal is headed
Opal looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 22% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
High 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.
Opal beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Opal in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It names a real thing with a real and interesting physical story behind it.
- Two syllables with front stress is the plainest and most durable shape English has.
- Nobody needs to be taught either the spelling or the pronunciation.
- It is coming back into use, so a classroom may hold more than one.
- The old superstition about opals being unlucky is still repeated by some people.
- It was recorded for sons as well in its earliest decades, though almost never now.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Opal to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Opal
Feminine · #423 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Opals are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 15,000 people named Opal are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Opal in 2025?
- Opal ranks #423 among US girl names in 2025, with 740 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Opal?
- About 1 in every 2,172 US girls born in 2025 was named Opal — 740 in all.
- Will my child share the name Opal with classmates?
- Opal will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Opal
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Marceline#424 · Sarai#424 · Willa#422 · Dorothy#421 · Winter#426 · Melissa#419 · Veronica#427 · Joy#419
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Opal? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Opal and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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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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