Orla
A feminine name of Irish origin meaning "golden princess".
Name Census estimates that about 863 living Americans carry the first name Orla. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 79.8% of registrations being female. The average person named Orla today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Orla births was 2024 (71 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Orla. 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 Orla with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
863
~ 1 in 397,166 Americans
Peak year
2024
71 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
1965 SSA rank
#2,517
Tracked since 1880
Census
Orla in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 994 people with the first name Orla, which placed it at #12,493 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
#12,493
National first-name rank
People counted
994
994 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
88.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Orla
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Orla is White at 88.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.9%) and Black (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 Orla 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 Orla at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.4% · 879
- Hispanic or Latino3.9% · 39
- Black or African American3.1% · 31
- Two or more races3.0% · 30
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 6
Gender
Gender distribution for Orla
Orla is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 1,415 total registrations, 286 (20.2%) were male and 1,129 (79.8%) were female.
Orla as a male name
- Ranked #3,816 in 1965
- 6 male births in 1965
- Peak: 1921 (13 births)
Orla as a female name
- Ranked #2,517 in 2024
- 71 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (71 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Orla leans strongly female. 865 people counted with this name were female (86.4%), compared with 136 male bearers (13.6%).
Popularity
Orla: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Orla from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 287 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Orla 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 Orla during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Orlas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. New York, California, Massachusetts recorded the most babies named Orla, while Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 28 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Orla
The name Orla is of Irish and Gaelic origin, stemming from the Old Irish word "orlaith", which means "golden princess" or "golden jewel". This name has been in use since ancient times in Ireland and is closely associated with Irish culture and heritage.
The earliest recorded use of the name Orla can be traced back to the 7th century, appearing in ancient Irish literary texts and historical records. It was a popular name among the noble families and royal clans of Ireland, particularly in the provinces of Ulster and Connacht.
One of the most notable historical figures bearing the name Orla was Orla Fehin, an Irish princess and warrior who lived in the 6th century. She is celebrated in Irish folklore for her bravery and leadership during a time of conflict between rival clans.
In the 12th century, Orla Ó Maoilchonaire was an Irish noblewoman and patron of the arts, known for her support of poets and bards. Her legacy contributed to the preservation of Irish literary traditions during the Norman invasion of Ireland.
Another prominent figure in Irish history was Orla Ní Dhonaill, a 16th-century chieftain and leader of the O'Donnell clan in County Donegal. She played a significant role in the Nine Years' War against English forces, demonstrating her military prowess and unwavering commitment to Irish independence.
During the 19th century, Orla Ní Chonaill was an Irish language scholar and writer who helped revive the study and preservation of the Irish language. Her contributions to the Gaelic literary revival were widely recognized and celebrated.
More recently, Orla Kiely, born in 1963, is an Irish fashion designer and businesswoman renowned for her iconic patterns and prints. Her successful career has brought international recognition to the name Orla, popularizing it globally.
While the name Orla has retained its Irish roots and cultural significance, it has also gained popularity in other parts of the world, particularly in English-speaking countries, due to its unique and melodic sound.
People
Orla + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Orla 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
Orla: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Orla?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 863 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Orla 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 397,166 US residents.
Is Orla a common name?
We classify Orla as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,415 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Orla most popular?
The single biggest year for Orla was 2024, when 71 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Orla is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Orla in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 994 people with the name Orla, or 0.33 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,493 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 Orla 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 Orla?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Orla leans strongly female. 865 people counted with this name were female (86.4%), compared with 136 male bearers (13.6%). 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 Orla?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Orla is White at 88.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.9%) and Black (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 Orla most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Orla in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.4% (879 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 Orla in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Orla a female name?
Yes, 79.8% of people registered as Orla 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 Orla still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Orla 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 Orla 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 are named Orla?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.