unisex name
Onyx
ON-iks
- Origin Greek
- Gender Unisex
- Syllables 2
- Letters 4
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 9,383
the United States
#365
2025 births
Onyx is a unisex name taken from the banded black stone, whose Greek name onyx means "fingernail" or "claw". The pale streaked variety was thought to resemble a nail, and the mineral kept the name even after black came to dominate the association.
- Onyx is a name of Greek origin.
- Peaked in 2023, when 1,271 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 3,200 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1918.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Onyx over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1910s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1910s | 5 |
| 1980s | 13 |
| 1990s | 219 |
| 2000s | 438 |
| 2010s | 1,918 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 6,039 |
What Onyx means
Onyx means fingernail in Greek. The stone was named for its resemblance to a nail rather than for its color, which is why the word for the darkest of gemstones has such an unexpectedly ordinary root.
Where Onyx comes from
Onyx comes directly from the Greek onyx, a fingernail or claw, applied to a banded chalcedony whose flesh-and-white layering suggested a nail. Roman writers repeat a story that Cupid trimmed Venus's nails and the clippings became the stone. The black onyx now associated with the word is largely produced by treating gray chalcedony, a practice recorded since antiquity. The same Greek root gives onycho- in medical terms for the nails. As a given name Onyx is modern, appearing in our records from 1918 and rising sharply in the 2010s with the taste for gemstone and color names.
Onyx in use
Onyx charts in four of the seven countries we track and peaked in 2023.
How popular is Onyx?
In 2025, Onyx was given to 1,036 babies in the United States, ranking #365 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Onyx is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Onyx
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Onyx also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Onyx over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Onyx in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
- Other forms
- Forms we hold no single language for — some are used across several, some are simply spelled differently.
- Onix
Sibling names for Onyx
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Onyx — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Onyx
What does the name Onyx mean?
Fingernail, from the Greek onyx. The banded stone was named for resembling a nail, not for being black.
Is Onyx a boy's or a girl's name?
Both, and used fairly evenly.
Why is onyx black?
Much black onyx is gray chalcedony treated to darken it — a practice recorded since antiquity. The natural stone is banded.
How popular is the name Onyx?
In 2025, Onyx was given to 1,036 babies in the United States, ranking #365 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
How many syllables are in Onyx?
Onyx has 2 syllables.
When was Onyx most popular?
Onyx peaked in 2023, when 1,271 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
Is Onyx a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Onyx currently ranks #365 in the United States. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.