How Many People Are Named Orson?
An estimated 1,879 people in the United States have the first name Orson. It is almost exclusively a male name. The average bearer is 25 years old, and Orson peaked in popularity in 2023 with 132 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Orson as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Orson paired with any surname.
Estimated Living Americans
1,879
About 1 in 182,413 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Rare
Predicted Gender
Male
100.0% confidence
Average Age
25
years old
Peak Year
2023
132 births
Total Registered
2,586
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Orson
Orson is almost exclusively a male name. Out of 2,586 total births registered, 100.0% were male.
Orson as a male name
Ranked #1,500 in 2024
119 male births in 2024
Peak: 2023 (132 births)
Orson: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Orson span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 2010s, when 585 babies were registered. Orson remains highly popular today, with recent registration numbers near its historical peak.
Orson by Decade
How has Orson tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
Orson by State
Birth registrations for Orson span all 18 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in California, New York, Utah. The lowest are in Indiana, Iowa, Arizona. On average, about 33 Orsons were registered per state.
Orson + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Orson as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Orson
Other first names starting with O with a similar number of bearers.
Orson: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Orson?
We estimate approximately 1,879 people named Orson are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 182,413 Americans share this first name.
Is Orson a common name?
Orson is classified as "Rare" and is more popular than 93.5% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 2,586 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Orson most popular?
Orson reached peak popularity in 2023, when 132 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Orson is approximately 25 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Orson a male name?
Orson is predominantly male. 100.0% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Orson Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Orson Smith, Orson Johnson, Orson Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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