Orissa
A name of Hindu origin that refers to the Indian state of Odisha.
Name Census estimates that about 52 living Americans carry the first name Orissa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Orissa today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Orissa births was 1988 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Orissa. 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 Orissa with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Orissa. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
52
~ 1 in 6,591,430 Americans
Peak year
1988
8 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
2011 SSA rank
#16,277
Tracked since 1917
Census
Orissa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 158 people with the first name Orissa, which placed it at #44,091 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
#44,091
National first-name rank
People counted
158
158 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
36.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Orissa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Orissa is Black at 36.1%. The next largest groups are White (35.4%) and Hispanic (13.9%). 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 Orissa 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 Orissa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American36.1% · 57
- White35.4% · 56
- Hispanic or Latino13.9% · 22
- Two or more races6.3% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.7% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.5% · 4
Popularity
Orissa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Orissa from the 1910s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 21 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1970s peak, Orissa remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Orissa 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 Orissa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Orissas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Orissa
The name Orissa has its origins in the Sanskrit language, which was the classical language of the Indian subcontinent. The name is derived from the word "Orissa," which refers to the state of Odisha in eastern India. This region has a rich cultural heritage dating back thousands of years and was once known as the Kalinga Empire.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Orissa can be found in ancient Hindu texts, such as the Mahabharata and the Puranas. These sacred scriptures mention the region of Kalinga, which is now known as Odisha, and its significance in Indian mythology and history.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Orissa. One of the most renowned was Orissa Nath Bhanja (1816-1867), a prominent poet and playwright from Odisha. He is celebrated for his contributions to the Odia language and literature, particularly his famous works such as "Govinda Charita" and "Lakshmindara Vijaya."
Another prominent figure with the name Orissa was Orissa Nath Dey (1879-1936), an Indian independence activist and revolutionary. He was a member of the revolutionary organization Anushilan Samiti and played a crucial role in the Indian independence movement against British colonial rule.
In the field of arts and culture, Orissa Pattanaik (1924-2003) was a renowned Odissi dancer and choreographer. She was instrumental in reviving and popularizing the classical Odissi dance form, which originated in the temples of Odisha. Her contributions to preserving and promoting this ancient dance tradition earned her numerous accolades and awards.
Orissa Panda (1930-2008) was a distinguished Indian mathematician and educator. He made significant contributions to the field of algebra and was a professor at the prestigious Indian Statistical Institute. His research work and publications on algebraic structures have been widely recognized and cited.
Orissa Priyadarshini (born 1985) is a contemporary Indian classical dancer and choreographer. She is known for her expertise in the Odissi dance form and has performed at numerous prestigious venues around the world, promoting the rich cultural heritage of Odisha through her art.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have borne the name Orissa throughout history, highlighting its deep-rooted connection to the culture and traditions of the eastern Indian state of Odisha.
People
Orissa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Orissa 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
Orissa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Orissa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 52 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Orissa 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 6,591,430 US residents.
Is Orissa a common name?
We classify Orissa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 54.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 61 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Orissa most popular?
The single biggest year for Orissa was 1988, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Orissa is about 40 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Orissa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 158 people with the name Orissa, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #44,091 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 Orissa 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 Orissa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Orissa appears almost entirely female. Of the 162 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Orissa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Orissa is Black at 36.1%. The next largest groups are White (35.4%) and Hispanic (13.9%). 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 Orissa most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Orissa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 36.1% (57 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 Orissa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Orissa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Orissa in the SSA data are female. 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 Orissa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Orissa 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 Orissa 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 have the name Orissa?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Orissa on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.