Ona
About Ona
A short, sweet name with plenty of substance, Ona is a multicultural choice, familiar in Spain, Lithuania, Egypt, and historically, in the US. Recent years have seen it reach the Catalonian Top 10 and the Spanish Top 100, while in the US, it hasn't appeared in the charts since the 1940s.
As a Lithuanian name, Ona is a variation of the classic Anna, giving it the meaning "grace", In this instance, it would be pronounced as o-NU (-U being like the u sound in up).
From its Spanish and Catalan roots, it's both a short form of Mariona (itself a variation of Maria), and a word name, meaning "wave" in Catalan. Here, it would be said as O-nuh.
It can additionally be used as a short form of the Basque Andreona ("good lady"), and as a nickname for any Uzbek name with the element ona which means "mother" or "respected woman". Beyond that, it may be related to Iona, Winona, Simona, Onora, Verona, Alyona, and so on.
Pronounced OH-nuh.
As of October 2026, Ona ranked #5868 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #303 in 1893.
Editor's take: The name Ona is a girl's name of Spanish, Catalan, Lithuanian origin meaning "grace; wave; bitter, beloved".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #4,430 | 33 | 18.5 |
| 2015 | #3,903 | 39 | 21.8 |
| 2016 | #4,214 | 35 | 19.8 |
| 2017 | #4,780 | 29 | 16.8 |
| 2018 | #4,057 | 36 | 21.2 |
| 2019 | #3,831 | 39 | 23.2 |
| 2020 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | #4,872 | 28 | 17.1 |
| 2023 | #4,838 | 28 | 17.5 |
| 2024 | #4,732 | 29 | 17.9 |
| 2025 | — | 0 | 0 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Ona.
- Oonagh
- Eda
- Vanna
- Ina
- Emmaliese
- Tuva
- Muirgen
- Mare
- Willamae
- Clarabeth
- Bethan
- Lucette
- Inga
- Idabel
- Sibylle
- Clodagh
- Sandrine
- Cilla
- Dillian
- Celie
Ona on lists
Famous Onas
- Ona Vytautienė
birth name of Anna, Grand Duchess consort of Vytautas the Great of Lithuania
- Ana
Margarita "Ona" Grauer, Mexican,Canadian actress
- Ona Juknevičienė
Lithuanian politician
- Ona Narbutienė
Lithuanian politician
- Ona Šimaitė
Lithuanian hero of the Holocaust
- Ona Munson (born Owena Wolcott)
American actress
- Ona Zee
American adult film actress
Ona in pop culture
- It's the Catalan word for "wave" as in "ocean wave"
and also quite commonly used as a name in Catalan speaking places.