Orly
A feminine given name of Hebrew origin meaning "light" or "my light."
Name Census estimates that about 775 living Americans carry the first name Orly. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Orly today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Orly births was 2013 (33 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Orly. 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 Orly with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
775
~ 1 in 442,264 Americans
Peak year
2013
33 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,901
Tracked since 1964
Census
Orly in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,320 people with the first name Orly, which placed it at #10,194 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
#10,194
National first-name rank
People counted
1.3K
1,320 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
71.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Orly
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Orly is White at 71.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (20.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.9%). 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 Orly 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 Orly at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White71.4% · 943
- Hispanic or Latino20.3% · 268
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.9% · 52
- Black or African American2.6% · 34
- Two or more races1.6% · 21
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 2
Popularity
Orly: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Orly from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 259 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Orly remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Orly 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 Orly during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Orlys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. New York, California, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Orly, while New Jersey, California, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 88 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Orly
The name Orly is believed to have its origins in the Hebrew language. It is derived from the Biblical Hebrew word "or," which means "light." The name Orly is a diminutive form of this word, often translated as "little light" or "my light."
In the Old Testament, the word "or" is used to refer to the light of the sun, moon, and stars. It is also used metaphorically to represent wisdom, truth, and divine revelation. This connection to light and enlightenment may have contributed to the popularity of the name Orly in Jewish communities throughout history.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Orly can be found in the Talmud, a central text of Rabbinic Judaism. The Talmud mentions a person named Orly ben Abba, who lived in the 3rd century CE. This individual was a renowned scholar and is cited as an authority on various legal and theological matters.
During the Middle Ages, the name Orly was relatively uncommon, but it did appear in some Jewish communities across Europe. One notable figure from this period was Orly ben Yitzchak, a 13th-century Jewish philosopher and scholar from Provence, France.
As the name Orly spread beyond its Hebrew roots, it gained popularity in various cultures and languages. In the 19th century, Orly Blanco was a prominent Venezuelan politician and military leader who played a crucial role in the country's struggle for independence.
In the 20th century, the name Orly gained more widespread recognition. Orly Castel-Bloom, born in 1960, is an Israeli author known for her novels and short stories that explore themes of identity and social issues.
Another notable figure is Orly Weinerman, an Israeli artist and sculptor born in 1937. Her works have been exhibited in galleries and museums around the world, and she is celebrated for her innovative use of materials and her exploration of the human form.
Orly Taitz, born in 1960, is an American lawyer and politician who gained attention for her involvement in the "birther" movement, which questioned the legitimacy of President Barack Obama's birth certificate.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who have carried the name Orly. While its origins can be traced back to the Hebrew language and the concept of light, the name has transcended its linguistic and cultural boundaries, becoming a part of diverse traditions and societies.
People
Orly + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Orly 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
Orly: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Orly?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 775 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Orly 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 442,264 US residents.
Is Orly a common name?
We classify Orly as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 795 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Orly most popular?
The single biggest year for Orly was 2013, when 33 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Orly is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Orly in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,320 people with the name Orly, or 0.44 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,194 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 Orly 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 Orly?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Orly leans strongly female. 1,087 people counted with this name were female (82.9%), compared with 225 male 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 Orly?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Orly is White at 71.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (20.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.9%). 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 Orly most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Orly in the 2020 Census, accounting for 71.4% (943 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 Orly in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Orly a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Orly 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 Orly still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Orly 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 Orly 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 share the name Orly?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.