Orville
Came into use from Lord Orville in Fanny Burney's 1778 novel Evelina, a name she appears to have drawn from a Norman place name.
Orville in 2025
Orville was given to 14 babies in the United States in 2025, making it the 13,386th most popular name of the year. That is roughly one in every 236,810 babies born.
The history of Orville
Orville reached its highest point in 1920, when 1,203 babies were given the name, ranking 318th that year. Its best-ever ranking was 293rd, in 1913.
Across the 146 years of records since 1880, 35,220 babies have been named Orville. Half of them were born before 1926, which places the name's centre of gravity with the Greatest Generation.
Orville by decade
| Decade | Babies named Orville | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 615 | 384 |
| 1890s | 870 | 414 |
| 1900s | 1,365 | 367 |
| 1910s | 7,942 | 293 |
| 1920s | 9,806 | 318 |
| 1930s | 5,855 | 415 |
| 1940s | 3,845 | 553 |
| 1950s | 2,290 | 903 |
| 1960s | 1,184 | 1,401 |
| 1970s | 615 | 2,083 |
| 1980s | 319 | 3,514 |
| 1990s | 179 | 6,174 |
| 2000s | 132 | 10,088 |
| 2010s | 124 | 10,999 |
| 2020s | 79 | 12,190 |
Where Orville is heading
Orville has risen 17% over the past decade, from 12 babies in 2015 to 14 in 2025.
That is less than 5% of its 1920 peak — Orville is now a rare name in the United States.
Names like Orville
Names that rose and fell at the same time as Orville.