Orlene
A feminine name of French origin meaning "golden or golden one".
Name Census estimates that about 84 living Americans carry the first name Orlene. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Orlene today is around 80 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Orlene births was 1921 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Orlene. 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 Orlene is about 80 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Orlenes were born before 1956.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Orlene. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
84
~ 1 in 4,080,409 Americans
Peak year
1921
23 babies that year
Average age
80
years old
1971 SSA rank
#9,224
Tracked since 1912
Census
Orlene in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 277 people with the first name Orlene, which placed it at #31,090 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
#31,090
National first-name rank
People counted
277
277 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
54.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Orlene
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Orlene is White at 54.9%. The next largest groups are Black (29.2%) and Hispanic (10.5%). 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 Orlene 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 Orlene at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White54.9% · 152
- Black or African American29.2% · 81
- Hispanic or Latino10.5% · 29
- Two or more races2.2% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 4
Popularity
Orlene: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Orlene from the 1910s through to the 1970s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 118 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
Orlene 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 Orlene during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Orlenes live
Origin
Meaning and history of Orlene
The name Orlene originates from the French language, derived from the Old French word "Orliens," which means "from Orleans." Orleans is a city in north-central France, situated along the Loire River. The name's roots can be traced back to the 5th century AD, during the time of the Merovingian dynasty in the Frankish Kingdom.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Orlene can be found in the chronicles of the Frankish court, where it was used to refer to individuals hailing from the city of Orleans. However, it is important to note that the name was not widely popular during this period and was primarily used as a descriptive term rather than a given name.
The first known historical figure to bear the name Orlene was Orlene de Burgundy, a noblewoman who lived in the 12th century. She was the daughter of Odo II, Duke of Burgundy, and was known for her charitable works and patronage of the arts.
Another notable figure with the name Orlene was Orlene de Brie, a 13th-century French poet and troubadour. She is best known for her lyrical compositions, which explored themes of love, nature, and courtly life. Her works were widely circulated and admired during her lifetime.
In the 16th century, Orlene de Valois, a member of the French royal family, gained recognition for her role as a patron of the arts and her support for the Renaissance movement. She commissioned numerous works of art and architecture, contributing to the cultural renaissance of France during this period.
Moving into the 17th century, Orlene de Montpensier was a prominent figure in French aristocratic society. She was known for her involvement in the Fronde, a series of civil wars that took place in France during the minority of King Louis XIV. Despite her political activism, she was also a patron of the arts and literature.
The name Orlene continued to be used throughout the centuries, albeit with varying degrees of popularity. In the 20th century, Orlene Murad, an American actress and dancer of Lebanese descent, achieved fame for her performances in Broadway musicals and Hollywood films during the 1940s and 1950s.
While the name Orlene has its roots in French history and culture, it has also been adopted by other cultures and languages over time. However, its origins can be traced back to the city of Orleans and the Old French word "Orliens," reflecting the name's enduring connection to its geographical and linguistic origins.
People
Orlene + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Orlene 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
Orlene: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Orlene?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 84 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Orlene 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 4,080,409 US residents.
Is Orlene a common name?
We classify Orlene as "Very Rare". It ranks above 62% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 402 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Orlene most popular?
The single biggest year for Orlene was 1921, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Orlene is about 80 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Orlene in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 277 people with the name Orlene, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,090 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 Orlene 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 Orlene?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Orlene leans strongly female. 269 people counted with this name were female (96.8%), compared with 9 male bearers (3.2%). 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 Orlene?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Orlene is White at 54.9%. The next largest groups are Black (29.2%) and Hispanic (10.5%). 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 Orlene most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Orlene in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.9% (152 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 Orlene in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Orlene a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Orlene in the SSA data are female. 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 Orlene still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Orlene 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 Orlene 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 common is the name Orlene?
See how many Americans are named Orlene on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.