How rare is the name Orville?

8,836 people in the United States have the first name Orville, about 1 in 34,182. It ranks #2,663 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

ORVILLE

#2,663

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
8,836
About
1 in 34,182
This common or more
80.5%
Who bears it

Of the 8,836 people named Orville, 75.5% reported their origin as White, 16.7% as Black and 2.7% as two or more races. Virtually all are male (99.7%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Orville peaked in 1920, when 1,203 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1920
Births that year
1,203
In 2025*
14 ▼99%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 35,220 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Orville by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1910s, when it ranked #314. The largest share of babies named Orville, 49.3%, were born between 1901 and 1927, the Greatest Generation's birth years.

1880s#455615
1890s#476870
1900s#4321,365
1910s#3147,942
1920s#3629,806
1930s#4705,855
1940s#7043,845
1950s#1,0772,290
1960s#1,6471,184
1970s#2,595615
1980s#4,633319
1990s#8,740179
2000s#13,531132
2010s#14,604124
2020s#13,60079
Before 19014.5%
Greatest Generation 1901–2749.3%
Silent Generation 1928–4528.4%
Baby boom 1946–6412.3%
Generation X 1965–803.3%
Millennials 1981–961.2%
Generation Z 1997–120.5%
2013 and later0.5%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Orville is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Orville has been most common in North Dakota (7.6×), South Dakota (6.7×), and Kentucky (4.1×), and least common in Georgia (0.04×).

28,704 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Orville

#2,661 Joao · 8,843#2,662 Karrie · 8,839#2,664 Kamden · 8,831#2,665 Gisselle · 8,830

Spelled almost the same

One first name in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Orville, most common first.

#20,132 Orvil · 516

Also a last name

As a last name, Orville ranks #146,495 of 156,621, with 114 people. See Orville as a last name

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