How Many People Are Named Oprah Winfrey?

There are approximately 1 people named Oprah Winfrey living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 342,754,338 Americans.

This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Oprah with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Winfrey. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and Census background data where it is available.

Estimated People with This Name

1 in 342,754,338 Americans

Combination Rarity

Very Rare

Very Rare Very Common

First Name

Oprah

Last Name

Winfrey

Oprah: Popularity Over Time

Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Oprah. The peak year was 1987 with 37 births. The average person named Oprah today is 35 years old.

Ancestry of the First Name Oprah

These percentages describe the people who had the first name Oprah in the 2020 Census. They do not tell you the deeper origin or meaning of the name itself.

Read this as a snapshot of who already had the name in 2020, not as a trend line. The SSA chart above is still the better way to see how Oprah rose or fell over time.

White

3.40%

Black

82.04%

Hispanic

8.74%

Asian/Pacific Islander

3.88%

American Indian/Alaska Native

0.49%

Two or More Races

1.46%

Ancestry of the Winfrey Surname

The surname Winfrey was most commonly recorded among people who identified as White in the 2020 Census.

This is a self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people who had the surname Winfrey in the published Census surname tables. It gives useful context around who was recorded with the name, but it does not tell the full family history of every Boone line.

White

49.69%

Black

39.91%

Hispanic

3.63%

Asian/Pacific Islander

0.59%

American Indian/Alaska Native

0.59%

Two or More Races

5.59%

How we calculated this

The first name "Oprah" has an estimated frequency of < 0.0001% among living Americans, based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024 adjusted for mortality using CDC 2023 life tables.

The surname "Winfrey" appears at a rate of 2.15 per 100,000 people in the 2020 U.S. Census.

We do not use the Census first-name snapshot for the main estimate because it is only published once every 10 years. The latest public first-name Census file is from 2020, which is already 6 years old. SSA birth records plus CDC survival data give a better current estimate of how many people with the first name Oprah are likely to be alive now.

Multiplying these frequencies against the U.S. population of ~343 million gives 1 estimated people. This assumes first names and last names are statistically independent. Full methodology.

Other people named Oprah

Oprah Brown Oprah Williams Oprah Johnson Oprah Smith Oprah Garcia Oprah Jones

Other people with the surname Winfrey

Michael Winfrey James Winfrey John Winfrey David Winfrey Robert Winfrey William Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey: Questions and Answers

How many people are named Oprah Winfrey?

We estimate approximately 1 people named Oprah Winfrey are alive in the United States today. The first name Oprah is shared by 95 Americans, and the surname Winfrey is shared by 7,364.

How rare is the name Oprah Winfrey?

This name combination is classified as Very Rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 342,754,338 Americans. The first name Oprah is very rare and the surname Winfrey is rare.

Is Oprah a male or female name?

Oprah is predominantly female, with 0.0% of bearers being male and 100.0% female. It peaked in popularity in 1987 and the average bearer today is 35 years old.

What does the Census say about the first name Oprah?

In the 2020 Census, the first name Oprah was most commonly recorded among people who identified as Black (82.04%). The next largest recorded groups were Hispanic (8.74%) and Asian and Pacific Islander (3.88%). These percentages describe the people who had the name in the 2020 Census, not the deeper origin of the name itself.

Where does this data come from?

First name data comes from the Social Security Administration (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables. When available, first-name Census background data comes from the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau first-name tables. Surname data comes from the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau. Full methodology.

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