Orry
A short English variation of the Old French name Orry meaning "golden-haired".
Name Census estimates that about 366 living Americans carry the first name Orry. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Orry today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Orry births was 1986 (80 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Orry. 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 Orry with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
366
~ 1 in 936,487 Americans
Peak year
1986
80 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2021 SSA rank
#13,555
Tracked since 1985
Census
Orry in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 381 people with the first name Orry, which placed it at #25,037 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
#25,037
National first-name rank
People counted
381
381 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
87.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Orry
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Orry is White at 87.1%. The next largest groups are Black (6.3%) and Hispanic (3.7%). 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 Orry 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 Orry at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.1% · 332
- Black or African American6.3% · 24
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 14
- Two or more races2.1% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 3
Popularity
Orry: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Orry from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 181 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Orry 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 Orry during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Orrys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. Texas, Louisiana, California recorded the most babies named Orry, while Alabama, Ohio, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 8 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Orry
The name Orry is a diminutive form of the Old English name Orrić, which in turn is derived from the Old Norse name Óríkr. This name ultimately traces its roots back to the Proto-Germanic *audríkaz, meaning "wealthy ruler" or "prosperous leader." It is composed of the elements *audá ("wealth, prosperity") and *rīkaz ("ruler, leader").
The name Orry first appeared in written records during the Anglo-Saxon period in England, where it was borne by various individuals of noble or wealthy backgrounds. One of the earliest documented instances of this name can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which records an individual named Orrić holding lands in the county of Lincolnshire.
In the 12th century, an English monk named Orry of Peterborough (c. 1110-1180) achieved some renown for his historical writings, including a chronicle of the abbots of Peterborough Abbey. His work provides valuable insights into the social and political conditions of medieval England.
During the Middle Ages, the name Orry also found its way into literary works, such as the 14th-century romance poem "Sir Orry of Normandy," which tells the tale of a knight named Orry and his adventures in the court of King Arthur.
One of the most notable historical figures bearing the name Orry was Sir Orry de St. Hilaire (c. 1300-1370), a Norman knight who served as a military commander under Edward III of England during the Hundred Years' War. He distinguished himself in battles against the French, and his exploits were recorded in contemporary chronicles.
In the 16th century, Orry de Rodes (c. 1520-1588) was a French financier and diplomat who served as the controller-general of finances under King Henry III of France. He played a significant role in reforming the country's taxation system and improving its financial administration.
While the name Orry has fallen out of widespread use in modern times, it remains a part of historical records and literary works, reminding us of its rich heritage and the individuals who bore this name throughout the centuries.
People
Orry + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Orry 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
Orry: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Orry?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 366 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Orry 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 936,487 US residents.
Is Orry a common name?
We classify Orry as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 377 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Orry most popular?
The single biggest year for Orry was 1986, when 80 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Orry is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Orry in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 381 people with the name Orry, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,037 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 Orry 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 Orry?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Orry leans strongly male. 366 people counted with this name were male (96.1%), compared with 15 female bearers (3.9%). 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 Orry?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Orry is White at 87.1%. The next largest groups are Black (6.3%) and Hispanic (3.7%). 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 Orry most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Orry in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.1% (332 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 Orry in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Orry a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Orry 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 Orry still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Orry 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 Orry 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 are called Orry?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.