Ordell
Possibly derived from the Germanic elements "ord" (meaning point or beginning) and "wald" (meaning rule or power).
Name Census estimates that about 37 living Americans carry the first name Ordell. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 77.7% of registrations being male. The average person named Ordell today is around 85 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ordell births was 1923 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ordell. 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
- • The typical person named Ordell is about 85 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Ordells were born before 1951.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Ordell. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
37
~ 1 in 9,263,631 Americans
Peak year
1923
18 babies that year
Average age
85
years old
1948 SSA rank
#3,230
Tracked since 1915
Census
Ordell in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 151 people with the first name Ordell, which placed it at #45,179 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
#45,179
National first-name rank
People counted
151
151 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
53.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ordell
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ordell is White at 53.6%. The next largest groups are Black (30.5%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (6.6%). 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 Ordell 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 Ordell at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White53.6% · 81
- Black or African American30.5% · 46
- American Indian and Alaska Native6.6% · 10
- Hispanic or Latino4.6% · 7
- Two or more races4.0% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Ordell
Ordell is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 238 total registrations, 185 (77.7%) were male and 53 (22.3%) were female.
Ordell as a male name
- Ranked #3,230 in 1948
- 7 male births in 1948
- Peak: 1922 (12 births)
Ordell as a female name
- Ranked #3,958 in 1930
- 7 female births in 1930
- Peak: 1915 (9 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ordell leans strongly male. 121 people counted with this name were male (81.2%), compared with 28 female bearers (18.8%).
Popularity
Ordell: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ordell from the 1910s through to the 1940s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 100 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1920s peak, Ordell remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ordell 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 Ordell during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ordells live
Origin
Meaning and history of Ordell
The name Ordell is believed to be derived from the Old English word "ord," which means "point of a weapon" or "spearhead." It is a relatively rare name, and its origins can be traced back to the Anglo-Saxon period in England, around the 5th to 11th centuries AD.
While the name Ordell does not appear to have any significant historical references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, there are a few notable individuals who bore this name throughout history. One of the earliest recorded examples is Ordell of Exeter, an Anglo-Saxon thegn (nobleman) who lived in the late 10th century and was mentioned in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive record of landholders in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086.
Another notable figure was Ordell Brice, an English clergyman who served as the Bishop of Exeter from 1258 to 1283. He was involved in various ecclesiastical and political affairs during the turbulent reign of King Henry III.
In the 19th century, Ordell Alger (1825-1904) was an American businessman and politician from Massachusetts. He served as a member of the Massachusetts State Senate and was a prominent figure in the shipping industry.
Ordell Petersen (1902-1977) was a Norwegian-American artist and painter known for his landscapes and depictions of rural life in the American Midwest. His works are featured in various museums and galleries across the United States.
More recently, Ordell Robbie (1942-2021) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for teams such as the Toronto Maple Leafs and the St. Louis Blues during the 1960s and 1970s.
While the name Ordell is not widely popular in modern times, it carries a rich historical legacy and a connection to the Anglo-Saxon heritage, particularly in England. Its meaning and association with weapons and strength add a unique and distinctive character to this relatively uncommon name.
People
Ordell + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ordell 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
Ordell: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ordell?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 37 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ordell 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 9,263,631 US residents.
Is Ordell a common name?
We classify Ordell as "Very Rare". It ranks above 49.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 238 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ordell most popular?
The single biggest year for Ordell was 1923, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ordell is about 85 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ordell in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 151 people with the name Ordell, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #45,179 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 Ordell 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 Ordell?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ordell leans strongly male. 121 people counted with this name were male (81.2%), compared with 28 female bearers (18.8%). 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 Ordell?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ordell is White at 53.6%. The next largest groups are Black (30.5%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (6.6%). 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 Ordell most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ordell in the 2020 Census, accounting for 53.6% (81 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 Ordell in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ordell a male name?
Yes, 77.7% of people registered as Ordell 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 Ordell still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ordell 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 Ordell 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 Ordell as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.