Orrin
A masculine name of English origin meaning "green hill, green valley".
Name Census estimates that about 3,405 living Americans carry the first name Orrin. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Orrin today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Orrin births was 1915 (98 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Orrin. 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.
People living today
3.4K
~ 1 in 100,662 Americans
Peak year
1915
98 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,691
Tracked since 1880
Popularity
Orrin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Orrin from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 709 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1920s peak, Orrin remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Orrin 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 Orrin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Orrins live
The SSA's state-level files cover 26 states and territories. Minnesota, California, Wisconsin recorded the most babies named Orrin, while Utah, Oregon, Oklahoma recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 46 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Orrin
The name Orrin has its origins in the Gaelic language, which was spoken by the Celtic people of Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. It is believed to have derived from the Gaelic word "orran," which means "green" or "fresh." The name's roots can be traced back to the Middle Ages, around the 5th to 15th centuries.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Orrin can be found in the Annals of Ulster, a chronicle of medieval Irish history. The Annals mention an Orrin who lived in the 7th century and was a prominent figure in the Kingdom of Dál Riata, which spanned parts of modern-day Scotland and Northern Ireland.
In the 12th century, an Orrin ap Iorwerth was a notable Welsh prince and military leader who fought against the Norman invaders. He played a significant role in the struggle for Welsh independence during the Norman conquest of Wales.
During the Scottish Wars of Independence in the late 13th and early 14th centuries, an Orrin of Argyll was a Scottish nobleman and warrior who fought alongside William Wallace and Robert the Bruce against the English forces.
In the 16th century, Orrin Ostrander was a Dutch settler in the New Netherland colony, which later became part of New York. He was among the earliest European settlers in the region and helped establish the Dutch presence in North America.
Another notable figure with the name Orrin was Orrin Porter Rockwell, an American frontiersman, lawman, and bodyguard of Joseph Smith, the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. Rockwell lived from 1813 to 1878 and played a significant role in the early history of the Latter Day Saint movement in the United States.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Orrin
People
Orrin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Orrin 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
Orrin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Orrin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,405 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Orrin 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 100,662 US residents.
Is Orrin a common name?
We classify Orrin as "Rare". It ranks above 95.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,922 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Orrin most popular?
The single biggest year for Orrin was 1915, when 98 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Orrin is about 40 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Orrin a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Orrin 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.
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.