Opal
Meaning
gemstone
The story
Opal is the gemstone written straight onto the certificate, from Sanskrit upala, stone, and it was once enormous: about 20,600 girls in the 1910s and 21,800 in the 1920s, the decades that filled classrooms with Pearl, at about 34,500 that same 1910s decade, and Ruby, at 60,800. Then the long fade, down to about 300 in the 1990s, a floor most names never come back from. Opal came back: 2,200 in the 2010s and already 3,700 so far this decade, past its full 2010s with years to run, riding the same jewel-box revival that brought Ruby home. October claims it as birthstone. In our records it goes to girls about 73,200 to 700. A hundred years from one bloom to the next, and the certificate reads the same both times: a stone that holds every color at once.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Opal peaked in the 1890s and the 1900s in nearly equal measure.
When you meet Opal
People given the name Opal in the United States span the generations: the middle half were born anywhere from 1940 to 2025. Age is the one thing the name won't tell you.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Opal deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Opal truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Opal fits with your family’s names and surname.
Keep exploring
Does Opal fit YOUR family?
nametree reads your family’s names and finds the ones that belong. Free, private, no ads.
Add Opal to your family’s tree →