Girls' name · peaked in 1909
Opal name popularity since 1925
32,018 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Opal (99.2% girls, 0.8% boys). Half of them were born in 1937 or earlier, so the typical Opal is about 89 years old in 2026. Opal peaked in 1909 as the #82 name for girls, and it ranked #423 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 32,018
- Named Opal, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1909
- #82 for girls that year
- In 2025
- #423
- for girls in 2025 (740 babies)
- Girls / boys
- 99.2% girls
- 31,776 girls · 242 boys
- Most popular in
- Kentucky
- 5.22× its national share
Peak year is the year Opal made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Opal births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year on this chart was 1925. Measured as a share of all babies, Opal peaked earlier, in 1909.
- Steepest fall: Between 1945 and 1950, Opal's share of baby girls fell by 53%, from 1 in 3,880 to 1 in 8,280.
- Fastest rise: Between 2012 and 2017, it became 3.1× more common, from 1 in 16,800 baby girls to 1 in 5,380.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Opal's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Opal.
Decade by decade
Babies named Opal in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 8,916 | 112 | – |
| 1930s | 8,529 | 119 | #219 |
| 1940s | 3,792 | 11 | #383 |
| 1950s | 1,712 | 0 | #687 |
| 1960s | 897 | 0 | #1,141 |
| 1970s | 704 | 0 | #1,555 |
| 1980s | 527 | 0 | #2,160 |
| 1990s | 304 | 0 | #4,969 |
| 2000s | 559 | 0 | #3,569 |
| 2010s | 2,167 | 0 | #1,110 |
| 2020–25 | 3,669 | 0 | #423 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
44.7% of babies named Opal from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Silent Generation years (1928–1945). The full split by generation:
Where Opal is most popular
The index compares Opal's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Opal.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Kentucky | 5.22× | 2,480 |
| West Virginia | 5.10× | 1,272 |
| Oklahoma | 4.71× | 1,741 |
| Arkansas | 4.66× | 1,360 |
| Tennessee | 2.89× | 1,725 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Opal's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Opal.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Opal (1909).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data