The first name Opal
A girl’s name.
2 syllables Female
Meaning and origin
A unisex given name from English from the precious stone, invented in the nineteenth century.
From Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity
Babies registered in England and Wales, 1996–2025
In 2025, 63 girls were named Opal, making it the 622nd most popular girls’ name. It peaked in 2024, with 74 births (#526).
Office for National Statistics; years with fewer than three births are not published and show as zero. Compare Opal with other names.
Popularity in the United States
Babies named Opal at birth, 1880–2025
In 2025, 740 girls born in the United States were named Opal, the 423rd most popular girls’ name that year. It was used most in 1918, when 2,847 were.
US Social Security Administration, from applications for a Social Security card. A name is only published for a year when at least five babies were given it, so quieter years show as zero.
Famous people named Opal
2 on Wikidata, most written-about first
- Janet AsimovAuthor, psychiatrist, psychoanalyst (1926–2019)
- Ayọ TometiAmerican human rights activist, born 1984
Questions
- How popular is the name Opal?
- In 2025, 63 girls born in England and Wales were named Opal, ranking 622nd. Its peak was 2024, with 74 births.
- Is Opal a boy's or a girl's name?
- Mostly a girl's name: 99% of the 74,257 US babies named Opal since 1880 were girls.
- When was Opal most popular?
- 1918 in the United States, when 2,847 babies were named Opal, its highest rank at 94th.