Find out how popular the last name Orelus is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Orelus.

Orelus, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Orelus surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Orelus in America

Orelus is the 59901st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Orelus surname appeared 337 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Orelus.

We can also compare 2010 data for Orelus to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Orelus

The surname Orelus is of French origin, deriving from the French word "or", meaning gold. It is believed to have originated in the 12th century as a descriptive name for a person with golden-colored hair or a person who worked with gold.

The earliest known recorded spelling of the name was found in the Chartulary of the Abbey of Ste-Geneviève in Paris, where a person named Jehan Orelus was mentioned in 1205. This suggests that the name was already in use in the region of Paris during the early 13th century.

In the 14th century, the name appeared in various forms in different regions of France, such as Orellus, Oreilhus, and Oreilhas. These variations likely resulted from regional dialects and scribal errors in transcribing the name.

The surname Orelus can also be linked to several place names in France, such as Orelle in the Savoie region and Oreluz in the Haute-Savoie department. It is possible that some bearers of the name adopted the surname from these place names or that the place names were derived from the surname itself.

One of the earliest known bearers of the surname Orelus was Jean Orelus, a French soldier who fought in the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. Another notable figure was Pierre Orelus (1520-1592), a French theologian and author who wrote extensively on the Protestant Reformation.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the surname Orelus spread beyond France as French settlers and immigrants carried the name to other parts of Europe and the Americas. For example, Jacques Orelus (1645-1718) was a French explorer and fur trader who established trading posts in present-day Quebec, Canada.

In the 18th century, Antoine Orelus (1732-1804) was a prominent French architect who designed several churches and public buildings in Paris and its surrounding regions. Additionally, Marie-Thérèse Orelus (1765-1842) was a French painter known for her portraits and still-life works.

As the name continued to spread, it also appeared in various historical records across different countries and regions, reflecting the migration patterns of those who bore the surname.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Orelus

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Orelus.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Orelus was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Orelus has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Orelus was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Orelus, please contact us.

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