Orlan
A Russian masculine name derived from the Latin loanword "Aquilanus" meaning "eagle".
Name Census estimates that about 313 living Americans carry the first name Orlan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Orlan today is around 63 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Orlan births was 1926 (32 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Orlan. 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 Orlan with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
313
~ 1 in 1,095,062 Americans
Peak year
1926
32 babies that year
Average age
63
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,602
Tracked since 1898
Census
Orlan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 510 people with the first name Orlan, which placed it at #20,297 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
#20,297
National first-name rank
People counted
510
510 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
62.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Orlan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Orlan is White at 62.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (18.4%) and Black (9.2%). 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 Orlan 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 Orlan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White62.7% · 320
- Hispanic or Latino18.4% · 94
- Black or African American9.2% · 47
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.1% · 31
- Two or more races2.4% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 6
Popularity
Orlan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Orlan from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 243 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Orlan 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 Orlan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Orlans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Minnesota, Illinois, Missouri recorded the most babies named Orlan, while Wisconsin, Missouri, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 6 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Orlan
The name Orlan is a masculine given name of Turkic origin, derived from the Old Turkic word "orlan," which means "eagle" or "falcon." Its roots can be traced back to the nomadic Turkic peoples who inhabited the vast steppes of Central Asia in ancient times.
Orlan gained prominence during the medieval period, particularly among the various Turkic tribes and empires that dominated the region, such as the Seljuk Empire and the Golden Horde. It was a popular name choice for warriors and nobles, reflecting the admiration for the strength, courage, and majesty associated with these raptors.
In the 13th century, the name Orlan appeared in the famous Turkic epic "Dede Korkut," a collection of stories and legends that showcased the rich oral traditions of the Oghuz Turks. This literary work served as a testament to the cultural significance of the name during that era.
One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name Orlan was Orlan Emir, a prominent military commander and governor who served under the Seljuk Sultan Alp Arslan in the 11th century. He played a crucial role in the expansion of the Seljuk Empire and the establishment of Turkic rule in Anatolia.
Another notable historical figure with the name Orlan was Orlan Jengiz, a 13th-century Mongol military leader and grandson of Genghis Khan. He was instrumental in the Mongol conquest of Persia and participated in several decisive battles that shaped the course of the Mongol Empire.
During the Ottoman Empire, the name Orlan was particularly popular among the ruling elite and military class. One notable bearer was Orlan Pasha, a 16th-century Grand Vizier and military commander who served under Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. He played a crucial role in the Ottoman campaigns in Hungary and was renowned for his strategic acumen.
In the 19th century, Orlan Mikhailovich Lermontov, a Russian poet and novelist, gained fame for his masterpiece "A Hero of Our Time." Born in 1814, Lermontov's works explored themes of individualism, disillusionment, and the complexities of human nature, earning him a place among the giants of Russian literature.
Another noteworthy figure was Orlan Veli Kanik, a Turkish poet and writer who lived from 1914 to 1950. He was a pioneering figure in the modern Turkish poetry movement and is renowned for his influential works that challenged traditional literary conventions and explored themes of social justice and human existence.
People
Orlan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Orlan 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
Orlan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Orlan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 313 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Orlan 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 1,095,062 US residents.
Is Orlan a common name?
We classify Orlan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 953 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Orlan most popular?
The single biggest year for Orlan was 1926, when 32 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Orlan is about 63 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Orlan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 510 people with the name Orlan, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,297 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 Orlan 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 Orlan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Orlan leans strongly male. 494 people counted with this name were male (98.6%), compared with 7 female bearers (1.4%). 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 Orlan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Orlan is White at 62.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (18.4%) and Black (9.2%). 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 Orlan most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Orlan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 62.7% (320 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 Orlan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Orlan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Orlan 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 Orlan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Orlan 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 Orlan 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 Americans are named Orlan?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.