Fun Facts About the Name Onix
- 382 babies named Onix: U.S. records list 382 babies given the name Onix from 1880 through 2025. Even 12 girls received the name Onix - about 1 girl for every 31 boys.
What Does the Name Onix Mean?
Onix is a variant spelling of Onyx, a name taken from the banded gemstone. The gemstone word reaches English through Latin onyx, which borrowed it from Greek ὄνυξ (onyx), the ordinary Greek noun for a fingernail, toenail, or claw. The stone was named for how it looks: the pale and dark bands in a piece of onyx were compared to the lighter nail and the darker flesh around it. That literal sense, "fingernail," is the word's older meaning, and it stands behind both the gemstone sense and the later personal name.
The spelling with an i does not come from a different root or a different language; it gives the same Greek-derived meaning in a simpler phonetic form. So the literal translation is "fingernail," while the customary understanding of the name today is simply "the gemstone onyx."
Onix Name History & Origins
Greek ὄνυξ named both the nail and the banded stone. Latin took over the gemstone sense as onyx, and Roman writers on stones described onyx among the materials carved into seals, cameos, and signet rings. The word then passed through medieval French, where forms such as oniche and onix appear, into Middle English, which records spellings like oniche and onix. The modern English onyx follows the Latin spelling; onix is the plain respelling that turns up again in modern use.
In English, onyx names the banded form of chalcedony, and in the stone trade "black onyx" usually means dyed black agate. As a personal name, Onyx and its respelling Onix are rare, sitting with the small set of English gemstone names such as Pearl and Ruby.
The best-known modern use of the spelling Onix is the rock-snake Pokémon introduced in the 1996 Japanese games Pokémon Red and Green and released to English-speaking players in 1998 - 1999. That is a fictional use of the name, separate from the gemstone word and from the occasional personal name, and it should not be treated as the origin of the spelling.
How Popular is the Name Onix?
Onix has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 2023. Its best rank was #2,741 in 1966.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #14,482 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 2022 | #14,852 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #4,661 | 22 | 0.0013% |
| 2024 | #5,375 | 18 | 0.0010% |
| 2023 | #3,853 | 29 | 0.0017% |
| 2022 | #4,154 | 26 | 0.0015% |
| 2021 | #4,197 | 25 | 0.0014% |
| 2020 | #6,534 | 13 | 0.0008% |
| 2019 | #8,691 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2018 | #7,478 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2017 | #6,993 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 2016 | #6,620 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 2015 | #11,721 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2014 | #7,410 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2013 | #9,425 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 2012 | #7,975 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 2011 | #13,781 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2010 | #9,439 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 2009 | #10,670 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2007 | #8,011 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 2006 | #10,359 | 7 | 0.0003% |
| 2005 | #8,122 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2003 | #8,415 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 2002 | #11,974 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2001 | #10,189 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1999 | #9,558 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1997 | #10,371 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1996 | #5,856 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1994 | #8,514 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1993 | #8,394 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1991 | #9,214 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 1985 | #7,299 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1981 | #6,993 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1980 | #6,031 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1979 | #4,309 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1968 | #4,575 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1967 | #3,459 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1966 | #2,741 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 1956 | #3,442 | 7 | 0.0003% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Onix Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You are patient, persevering and strong willed. You are a good student, absorbing knowledge easily and retaining it well. You are either a saint or a sinner. You tend to hold things inside and suffer in silence. You are frank, methodical and believe in law, system and order.
Position and social status is very important for you and you are always looking for way to improve your position in society. You have power and ability to chose your own destiny and achieve anything you want in life. You can expand in any direction according to your will and the set of values. You have passion for justice and belong to the position of authority. You have an inherent courage and endurance to accomplish "The Impossible Dream". With the power comes responsibility. You hold keys to the material world, but with this gift comes high spiritual responsibility to be fair and true to others. You are philosophical and mature, determined and intense with a desire to endure, often religious.
✦ Onix's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Onix's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.