Opal
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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.
How popular is Opal around the world?
In the United States, 3,669 babies were named Opal between 2020 and 2025.
Opal is on the official records of the United States, England and Wales, Scotland, Canada and South Australia.
United States
1 in 5,900
In the United States, 3,669 babies were named Opal between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Opal peaked in the 1890s and the 1900s in nearly equal measure. In US birth records Opal has stayed between 304 and 3,669 births in every decade since the 1950s: a name everyone knows and few children get.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
England and Wales
1 in 9,300
In England and Wales, 63 girls named Opal were born in 2025, the 622nd most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Scotland
1 in 15,000
In Scotland, 3 girls named Opal were registered in 2024, the 790th most common name among girls that year.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
Canada
1 in 18,000
In Canada, 20 girls named Opal were born in 2024, ranked 1,231st among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
South Australia
1 in 18,0002017
In South Australia, 1 girl was registered as Opal in 2017.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Argentina
last on record 2021
Opal is not on the 2024 record for Argentina, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Puerto Rico, Ireland, New Zealand and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Austria record for 1984 to 2025: Statistik Austria publishes every first name down to a single birth, so this name was not given there in those years (before 2010 the record covers babies with Austrian citizenship only). Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
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.
Keep exploring
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.
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