2000
#7,612
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,027
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.49
Rare Last name
Orange
A locational surname referring to someone who lived near an orange tree or came from Orange, France.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 4,751 Americans carry the last name Orange. That puts it at #7,704 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.39 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 72,144 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Orange surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Orange with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
4.8K
1 in 72,144
Census rank
#7,704
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.4
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
4.1K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 4,143 bearers of the surname Orange in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.39 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 7704th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Orange, the largest self-reported group is White at 45.8%. The next largest groups are Black (45.1%) and Two or More Races (4.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Orange
The surname Orange is believed to have originated in England, though its precise roots can be traced back to the early Middle Ages. It is thought to have derived from the Old French word "orenge," which referred to the orange fruit or its distinctive bright color. This name may have been used as a descriptive surname for someone with reddish or orange-colored hair or complexion.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Orange can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which documented landowners and tenants in England following the Norman Conquest. The name appears as "de Orenge," indicating that it may have originally been a locative surname referring to a place associated with oranges or orange-colored objects.
During the 12th and 13th centuries, the surname Orange began to appear more frequently in various English records and documents. Notable bearers of the name from this period include Sir John Orange (c. 1220-1292), a knight and landowner in Wiltshire, and Sir William Orange (c. 1250-1310), a prominent figure in the Court of King Edward I.
As the surname spread throughout England, it also evolved into various spelling variations, such as Orenge, Oranges, and Oranger. Some of these variations may have been influenced by the French language or by regional dialects and pronunciations.
In the 16th century, the Orange surname gained further prominence with the rise of the House of Orange-Nassau, a prestigious Dutch noble family. One of the most famous members of this family was William I, Prince of Orange (1533-1584), who played a pivotal role in the Dutch Revolt against Spanish rule and is considered a founding father of the Netherlands.
Other notable individuals with the surname Orange throughout history include:
1. Henry Orange (c. 1580-1652), an English philosopher and theologian known for his writings on metaphysics and ethics.
2. Mary Orange (c. 1630-1685), an English Quaker and one of the earliest female preachers in the Quaker movement.
3. Thomas Orange (c. 1780-1838), a British naval officer who served in the Napoleonic Wars and later became an explorer and cartographer.
4. Elizabeth Orange (c. 1820-1892), an American educator and advocate for women's rights, who founded one of the first colleges for women in the United States.
5. Albert Orange (1876-1945), a British artist and illustrator known for his landscape paintings and illustrations for children's books.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Orange
Among Census respondents with the surname Orange, the largest self-reported group is White at 45.8%. The next largest groups are Black (45.1%) and Two or More Races (4.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Orange bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Orange surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White45.8% · 1,896
- Black or African American45.1% · 1,867
- Two or more races4.7% · 193
- Hispanic or Latino3.0% · 125
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 41
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 21
Timeline
Historical Census data for Orange
Orange appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#7,629
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,350
+323 bearers (+8.0%)
Per 100,000 1.47
Rank movement Down 17 places
2020
#7,704
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,143
-207 bearers (-4.8%)
Per 100,000 1.39
Rank movement Down 75 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #7,612 | 4,027 | 1.49 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #7,629 | 4,350 | 1.47 | +323 bearers (+8.0%) | Down 17 places |
| 2020 | #7,704 | 4,143 | 1.39 | -207 bearers (-4.8%) | Down 75 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Orange surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #7,629 | #7,704 | -1.0% |
| Count | 4,350 | 4,143 | -4.8% |
| Per 100K | 1.47 | 1.39 | -5.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Orange bearers went from 4,350 to 4,143 (-4.8% change). The surname moved down 75 positions in the national ranking, going from #7,629 to #7,704.
FAQ
Orange surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Orange?
Name Census estimates that about 4,751 living Americans carry the surname Orange. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 72,144 residents.
How common is Orange?
Orange ranks #7,704 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.39 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 4,143 people with the surname Orange. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (4,751), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.39 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.39 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Orange.
Has Orange become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Orange went from 4,350 recorded bearers to 4,143. That is a decrease of 207 (-4.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #7,629 to #7,704.
What does the Census say about the background of Orange?
Among Census respondents with the surname Orange, the largest self-reported group is White at 45.8%. The next largest groups are Black (45.1%) and Two or More Races (4.7%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Orange in the 2020 Census, accounting for 45.8% (1,896 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Orange appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (45.8%), Black (45.1%), Two or More Races (4.7%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Orange (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Orange mean?
A locational surname referring to someone who lived near an orange tree or came from Orange, France. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Orange (1.39 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people share the surname Orange?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.