Boys' name · peaked in 2018
Orion name popularity since 1925
23,273 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Orion (2.7% girls, 97.3% boys). Half of them were born in 2014 or earlier, so the typical Orion is about 12 years old in 2026. Orion peaked in 2018 as the #300 name for boys, and it ranked #334 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 23,273
- Named Orion, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- #334
- for boys in 2025 (1,012 babies)
- Girls / boys
- 97.3% boys
- 625 girls · 22,648 boys
- Most popular in
- Oregon
- 3.39× its national share
Peak year is the year Orion made up the largest share of US boys, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Orion births per year, 1925–2025
2018 was the biggest year for Orion both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Fastest rise: Between 1993 and 1998, Orion became 3.5× more common, from 1 in 18,200 baby boys to 1 in 5,140.
Shaded on the chart. This compares Orion's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Orion.
Decade by decade
Babies named Orion in each decade, and its rank among boys' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 0 | 121 | – |
| 1930s | 0 | 154 | #1,697 |
| 1940s | 0 | 121 | #1,993 |
| 1950s | 0 | 84 | Under 5 |
| 1960s | 0 | 82 | #4,289 |
| 1970s | 0 | 500 | #1,111 |
| 1980s | 0 | 733 | #1,177 |
| 1990s | 88 | 1,852 | #831 |
| 2000s | 140 | 4,367 | #558 |
| 2010s | 237 | 8,595 | #367 |
| 2020–25 | 160 | 6,039 | #334 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000. "Under 5" means fewer than 5 boys got the name.
Generation fingerprint
56.6% of babies named Orion from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Gen Alpha years (2013–2025). The full split by generation:
Where Orion is most popular
The index compares Orion's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Orion.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Oregon | 3.39× | 640 |
| Colorado | 3.27× | 810 |
| Arizona | 2.84× | 740 |
| Washington | 2.82× | 947 |
| New Mexico | 2.81× | 312 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Orion's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Orion.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Orion (2018).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data