Orel
Meaning "eagle" and stemming from the Slavic languages.
Name Census estimates that about 242 living Americans carry the first name Orel. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 80.3% of registrations being male. The average person named Orel today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Orel births was 1916 (73 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Orel. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Orel with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
242
~ 1 in 1,416,340 Americans
Peak year
1916
73 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,663
Tracked since 1883
Census
Orel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 443 people with the first name Orel, which placed it at #22,452 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
#22,452
National first-name rank
People counted
443
443 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
53.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Orel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Orel is White at 53.7%. The next largest groups are Black (23.0%) and Hispanic (18.5%). 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 Orel 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 Orel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White53.7% · 238
- Black or African American23.0% · 102
- Hispanic or Latino18.5% · 82
- Two or more races2.0% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Orel
Orel leans heavily male at 80.3% of total registrations, but 136 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Orel as a male name
- Ranked #13,663 in 2024
- 5 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1916 (27 births)
Orel as a female name
- Ranked #16,755 in 2009
- 6 female births in 2009
- Peak: 1916 (46 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Orel leans strongly male. 364 people counted with this name were male (82.9%), compared with 75 female bearers (17.1%).
Popularity
Orel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Orel from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 239 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1910s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Orel 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 Orel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Orels live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. California, Minnesota, Kentucky recorded the most babies named Orel, while Wisconsin, Texas, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 6 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Orel
The name Orel has its origins in the Slavic languages, particularly Russian and Ukrainian. It is derived from the word "orel," which means "eagle" in these languages. The name likely emerged during the early medieval period when Slavic cultures were prominent in Eastern Europe.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Orel can be found in the Russian Primary Chronicle, a historical text dating back to the 12th century. It mentions an individual named Orel who was a prominent member of the Drevlian tribe, which inhabited the lands around modern-day Ukraine.
In Russian folklore and literature, the eagle has been a symbol of strength, courage, and freedom. It is possible that the name Orel was given to individuals who embodied these qualities or were admired for their bravery and resilience.
Throughout history, there have been several notable figures who bore the name Orel. One example is Orel Stepanovich Somov (1793-1833), a Russian painter and engraver known for his portraits and landscape paintings. Another is Orel Mikhailovich Chaykov (1846-1915), a Russian writer and journalist who contributed to several literary magazines and newspapers.
In the realm of sports, one cannot overlook Orel Leonard Hershiser (born 1958), a former American baseball pitcher who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers and won the Cy Young Award in 1988. His name, although spelled differently, is likely derived from the same Slavic roots.
Additionally, Orel Protopopescu (1909-1984) was a Romanian lawyer and politician who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania from 1973 to 1978.
Another notable figure bearing the name Orel is Orel Sabag (born 1949), an Israeli actor and director who has appeared in numerous films and television shows, both in Israel and internationally.
While the name Orel may not be as common today as it once was, it continues to hold significance in Slavic cultures, representing a connection to historical traditions and folklore. Its association with the powerful and majestic eagle symbolizes strength and freedom, making it a name with rich cultural significance.
People
Orel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Orel 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
Orel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Orel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 242 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Orel 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 1,416,340 US residents.
Is Orel a common name?
We classify Orel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 692 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Orel most popular?
The single biggest year for Orel was 1916, when 73 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Orel is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Orel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 443 people with the name Orel, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,452 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 Orel 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 Orel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Orel leans strongly male. 364 people counted with this name were male (82.9%), compared with 75 female bearers (17.1%). 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 Orel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Orel is White at 53.7%. The next largest groups are Black (23.0%) and Hispanic (18.5%). 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 Orel most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Orel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 53.7% (238 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 Orel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Orel a male name?
Yes, 80.3% of people registered as Orel 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 Orel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Orel 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 Orel 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 Orel as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.