Orli
A Hebrew feminine name meaning "my light" or "God's light".
Name Census estimates that about 482 living Americans carry the first name Orli. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Orli today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Orli births was 2024 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Orli. 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 Orli with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
482
~ 1 in 711,109 Americans
Peak year
2024
28 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,844
Tracked since 1974
Census
Orli in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 501 people with the first name Orli, which placed it at #20,571 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
#20,571
National first-name rank
People counted
501
501 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
80.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Orli
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Orli is White at 80.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.0%) and Two or More Races (3.8%). 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 Orli 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 Orli at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White80.8% · 405
- Hispanic or Latino13.0% · 65
- Two or more races3.8% · 19
- Black or African American1.8% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 3
Popularity
Orli: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Orli from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 176 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Orli remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Orli 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 Orli during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Orlis live
Origin
Meaning and history of Orli
The name Orli is believed to have originated from the Hebrew language. It is a unisex name that can be used for both males and females. The name is derived from the Hebrew word "or," which means "light." It is often associated with brightness, illumination, and radiance.
In Hebrew culture, the name Orli is commonly used as a diminutive form of the name Oriya, which also means "light." The name has been in use since ancient times and can be found in various Jewish texts and historical records.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Orli can be traced back to the 12th century when it was mentioned in a Hebrew manuscript from Spain. It was the name of a Jewish scholar and poet known as Orli ben Shlomo.
In the 16th century, there was a notable Kabbalist and philosopher named Orli Shem Tov who lived in Safed, Israel. He was known for his contributions to Jewish mysticism and his teachings on the Kabbalah.
Another historically significant figure with the name Orli was Orli Landa, a Russian-born Israeli artist and sculptor who lived from 1908 to 1985. She is renowned for her monumental public sculptures and her work in the field of Israeli art.
In the 20th century, Orli Petry was an Israeli Olympic swimmer who competed in the 1972 Munich Olympics. She won a bronze medal in the 200-meter butterfly event.
More recently, Orli Shaham is an American classical pianist who was born in 1975. She is renowned for her performances and recordings of works by composers such as Brahms, Chopin, and Mozart.
While the name Orli has its roots in Hebrew culture, it has gained popularity across various cultures and regions over time. It is a name that carries a sense of brightness and illumination, making it a beautiful and meaningful choice for both boys and girls.
People
Orli + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Orli 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
Orli: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Orli?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 482 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Orli 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 711,109 US residents.
Is Orli a common name?
We classify Orli as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 489 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Orli most popular?
The single biggest year for Orli was 2024, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Orli is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Orli in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 501 people with the name Orli, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,571 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 Orli 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 Orli?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Orli leans strongly female. 467 people counted with this name were female (93.4%), compared with 33 male bearers (6.6%). 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 Orli?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Orli is White at 80.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.0%) and Two or More Races (3.8%). 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 Orli most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Orli in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.8% (405 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 Orli in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Orli a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Orli 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 Orli still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Orli 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 Orli 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 Orli?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.