Boys' name · peaked in 1909
Orville name popularity since 1925
18,967 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Orville. Half of them were born in 1938 or earlier, so the typical Orville is about 88 years old in 2026. Orville peaked in 1909 as the #126 name for boys, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 18,967
- Named Orville, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1909
- #126 for boys that year
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #6,347 for boys in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.7% boys
- 66 girls · 18,901 boys
- Most popular in
- North Dakota
- 6.60× its national share
Peak year is the year Orville 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.
Orville births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year on this chart was 1925. Measured as a share of all babies, Orville peaked earlier, in 1909.
- Steepest fall: Between 1957 and 1962, Orville's share of baby boys fell by 46%, from 1 in 9,180 to 1 in 17,100.
Shaded on the chart. This compares Orville's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Orville.
Decade by decade
Babies named Orville 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 | 36 | 4,309 | – |
| 1930s | 30 | 5,825 | #208 |
| 1940s | 0 | 3,845 | #326 |
| 1950s | 0 | 2,290 | #524 |
| 1960s | 0 | 1,184 | #738 |
| 1970s | 0 | 615 | #980 |
| 1980s | 0 | 319 | #1,781 |
| 1990s | 0 | 179 | #2,823 |
| 2000s | 0 | 132 | #8,126 |
| 2010s | 0 | 124 | #6,976 |
| 2020–25 | 0 | 79 | #6,347 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
52.6% of babies named Orville from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Silent Generation years (1928–1945). The full split by generation:
Where Orville is most popular
The index compares Orville'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 Orville.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| North Dakota | 6.60× | 333 |
| South Dakota | 6.04× | 308 |
| Kentucky | 4.97× | 1,333 |
| West Virginia | 4.69× | 660 |
| Oklahoma | 3.78× | 789 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Orville's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Orville.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Orville (1909).
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