Orit
A Hebrew feminine name meaning "light" or "shine".
Name Census estimates that about 116 living Americans carry the first name Orit. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Orit today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Orit births was 1975 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Orit. 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.
People living today
116
~ 1 in 2,954,779 Americans
Peak year
1975
10 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
2005 SSA rank
#18,464
Tracked since 1970
Census
Orit in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 553 people with the first name Orit, which placed it at #19,251 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
#19,251
National first-name rank
People counted
553
553 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
88.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Orit
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Orit is White at 88.2%. The next largest groups are Black (7.2%) and Hispanic (3.1%). 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 Orit 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 Orit at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.2% · 488
- Black or African American7.2% · 40
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 17
- Two or more races1.1% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 1
Popularity
Orit: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Orit from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 55 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
Orit 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 Orit during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Orits live
Origin
Meaning and history of Orit
The name Orit has its origins in Hebrew, derived from the word "or" meaning "light." It is a relatively modern name that emerged in the 20th century, primarily used among Jewish communities in Israel and the diaspora.
Orit is a feminine name that carries connotations of brightness, radiance, and illumination. While not found in ancient texts or religious scriptures, the name gained popularity in the 20th century as a nod to the cultural and linguistic revival of the Hebrew language and Jewish identity.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Orit can be traced back to the early 20th century, with the birth of Orit Uziel, an Israeli politician and activist born in 1933. Uziel was a prominent figure in the Israeli Labor Party and served as a member of the Knesset (Israeli parliament) from 1965 to 1977.
Another notable figure with the name Orit is Orit Karavani, an Israeli writer and journalist born in 1964. Karavani has authored several novels and short story collections, exploring themes of identity, relationships, and contemporary Israeli society.
In the realm of entertainment, Orit Shefer is a well-known Israeli singer and actress born in 1973. Shefer has released several successful albums and has starred in various television shows and films, showcasing her versatility as a performer.
Orit Noked-Gallen is an Israeli scientist and professor of chemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, born in 1955. Her research contributions in the field of nanotechnology and materials science have earned her numerous accolades and recognition.
Lastly, Orit Gadiesh is an Israeli-born American businesswoman and author born in 1951. She has held leadership positions in various consulting firms and has written extensively on strategy, leadership, and organizational transformation.
These individuals, spanning different fields and generations, exemplify the diverse backgrounds and achievements associated with the name Orit, reflecting its Hebrew roots and the enduring influence of the Jewish cultural heritage.
People
Orit + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Orit 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
Orit: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Orit?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 116 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Orit 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 2,954,779 US residents.
Is Orit a common name?
We classify Orit as "Very Rare". It ranks above 66.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 124 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Orit most popular?
The single biggest year for Orit was 1975, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Orit is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Orit in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 553 people with the name Orit, or 0.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,251 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 Orit 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 Orit?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Orit leans strongly female. 545 people counted with this name were female (98.4%), compared with 9 male bearers (1.6%). 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 Orit?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Orit is White at 88.2%. The next largest groups are Black (7.2%) and Hispanic (3.1%). 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 Orit most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Orit in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.2% (488 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 Orit in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Orit a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Orit 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 Orit still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Orit 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 Orit 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 Orit as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.