Given name
Onesimus
“will be useful”
Onesimus is a given name from Ancient Greek. It is used in Latin.
Original GreekΟνησιμος
Meaning & origin
What it means
As a biblical name, Onesimus means “will be useful.”
From biblical name research
Where it comes from
Onesimus is a biblical name from Greek.
From biblical name research
How it developed
From the Greek verb oninemi (ονινημι), “to be of use or to profit.”
From biblical name research
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1982. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
In the Bible
In the Bible, the name Onesimus appears in Colossians 4:9, Philemon 1:10.
- Colossians 4:9
- Philemon 1:10
From biblical name research
Onesimus through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 50
- 50 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1982
- 9 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 7 in 2020. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 9 in 1982.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Onesimus’s family of names
In German usage, Onesimus has a conventional equivalent in the French form Onésime.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 1
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 3
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
See also 1
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
Similar names
If you love Onesimus, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Apostolos
“an apostle; a messenger of God”
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Eliud
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Darius
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Jeremy
“one who is exalted by the Lord” · “appointed by God”
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Epaenetus
“praiseworthy” · “laudable”
>99% boys
Ampliatus
Ampliatus is a given name. It is used in Latin.
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Iacobus
“May He Heel”
>99% boys
Archippus
“first horse” · “ruler of horses”
>99% boys