Orasio
A masculine name of Italian origin meaning "prayer" or "orator".
Name Census estimates that about 7 living Americans carry the first name Orasio. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Orasio today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Orasio births was 1980 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Orasio. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Orasio. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
7
~ 1 in 48,964,905 Americans
Peak year
1980
7 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
1980 SSA rank
#5,344
Tracked since 1980
Census
Orasio in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 105 people with the first name Orasio, which placed it at #52,717 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#52,717
National first-name rank
People counted
105
105 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
95.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Orasio
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Orasio is Hispanic at 95.2%. The next largest groups are Black (2.9%) and White (1.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Orasio described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Orasio at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino95.2% · 100
- Black or African American2.9% · 3
- White1.0% · 1
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 1
Popularity
Orasio: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Orasio by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Orasio during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 7 | 0 | 7 |
Geography
Where Orasios live
Origin
Meaning and history of Orasio
The given name Orasio finds its origins in the Latin language and culture, with its earliest known uses dating back to ancient Roman times. The name is derived from the Latin word "orare," which means "to pray" or "to speak," suggesting a connection to eloquence, rhetoric, or religious devotion.
In ancient Roman texts and historical records, the name Orasio appears as a variant spelling of the more common "Horatius," which was borne by several notable figures. One such figure was Quintus Horatius Flaccus, better known as Horace, the celebrated Roman lyric poet who lived from 65 BC to 8 BC. His works, including the Odes, Epodes, and Satires, have had a lasting influence on Western literature.
Another historical figure with a similar name was Marcus Horatius, a Roman legendary figure from the 7th century BC. According to the Roman historian Livy, Marcus Horatius was a Roman hero who defended a bridge across the Tiber River against the invading Etruscan army, allowing his fellow Romans to retreat and eventually defeat the invaders.
During the Renaissance period, the name Orasio gained popularity in Italy, possibly influenced by the rediscovery and appreciation of classical Roman literature and culture. One notable bearer of the name was Orasio Gentileschi, an Italian Baroque painter who lived from 1563 to 1639. He was known for his masterful use of chiaroscuro and his depictions of dramatic scenes from classical mythology and biblical stories.
In the realm of literature, Orasio Ariosti was an Italian poet and dramatist who lived from 1555 to 1628. He was renowned for his pastoral dramas and tragedies, which drew inspiration from classical Greek and Roman sources while incorporating elements of the Italian Renaissance literary tradition.
Another figure of note was Orasio Vecchi, an Italian composer and music theorist who lived from 1550 to 1605. He is credited with pioneering the madrigal comedy, a genre that combined madrigal singing with theatrical elements and comedic storylines, reflecting the vibrant cultural atmosphere of the Italian Renaissance.
While the name Orasio has not been as widely used in more recent centuries, it continues to be a reminder of the rich cultural heritage of the ancient Roman world and the enduring influence of Latin language and literature on Western civilization.
People
Orasio + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Orasio as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with O
Other first names starting with O with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Orasio: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Orasio?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Orasio going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 48,964,905 US residents.
Is Orasio a common name?
We classify Orasio as "Very Rare". It ranks above 23.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 7 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Orasio most popular?
The single biggest year for Orasio was 1980, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Orasio is about 43 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Orasio in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 105 people with the name Orasio, or 0.03 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #52,717 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Orasio in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Orasio?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Orasio appears almost entirely male. Of the 106 people counted with this name, 100.0% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Orasio?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Orasio is Hispanic at 95.2%. The next largest groups are Black (2.9%) and White (1.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Orasio most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Orasio in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.2% (100 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Orasio in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Orasio a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Orasio in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Orasio still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Orasio in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Orasio can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Orasio?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Orasio on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.