Orlen
A name potentially derived from Polish, with uncertain meaning or origin.
Name Census estimates that about 42 living Americans carry the first name Orlen. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Orlen today is around 83 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Orlen births was 1934 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Orlen. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Orlen is about 83 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Orlens were born before 1953.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Orlen. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
42
~ 1 in 8,160,818 Americans
Peak year
1934
15 babies that year
Average age
83
years old
1956 SSA rank
#4,321
Tracked since 1915
Census
Orlen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 226 people with the first name Orlen, which placed it at #35,529 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
#35,529
National first-name rank
People counted
226
226 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
47.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Orlen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Orlen is White at 47.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (40.3%) and Black (4.4%). 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 Orlen 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 Orlen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White47.3% · 107
- Hispanic or Latino40.3% · 91
- Black or African American4.4% · 10
- Two or more races3.5% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.7% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 4
Popularity
Orlen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Orlen from the 1910s through to the 1950s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 101 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Orlen 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 Orlen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Orlen
The name Orlen is of uncertain origin, with no definitive historical records pointing to its linguistic roots or cultural background. Some scholars speculate that it could be a variant of the Germanic name Orlin, derived from the Old High German word "arn," meaning "eagle." However, this connection remains tenuous and unsubstantiated.
Early examples of the name Orlen are scarce in historical texts and records. One of the earliest known individuals with this name was Orlen of Trier, a 9th-century Frankish scholar and theologian who wrote extensively on religious matters. His work, "De Trinitate," was widely studied in medieval Europe.
Another notable figure was Orlen Haraldr, a Viking chieftain from Norway in the 10th century. According to Norse sagas, Haraldr led a band of warriors on daring raids along the coasts of Scotland and England, earning him a fearsome reputation among his contemporaries.
In the 12th century, Orlen de Montfort was a French knight who participated in the Third Crusade under the leadership of Richard the Lionheart. De Montfort's bravery in battle was documented in chronicles of the time, though few details of his life beyond his military exploits have survived.
Moving to the Renaissance era, Orlen Massari was an Italian painter and sculptor active in the 16th century. Born in Florence in 1492, Massari's works adorned several churches and palaces throughout Italy, showcasing his skill in the classical Renaissance style.
Lastly, Orlen Willoughby was an English explorer and navigator who accompanied Sir Walter Raleigh on his expeditions to the New World in the late 16th century. Willoughby's accounts of the voyages provided valuable insights into the flora, fauna, and indigenous peoples of the Americas, contributing to the expanding knowledge of the time.
While the name Orlen has a somewhat obscure history and limited usage throughout the centuries, these individuals stand as notable examples of those who bore this moniker, leaving their mark in various fields and eras of human endeavor.
People
Orlen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Orlen 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
Orlen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Orlen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 42 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Orlen 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 8,160,818 US residents.
Is Orlen a common name?
We classify Orlen as "Very Rare". It ranks above 51.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 259 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Orlen most popular?
The single biggest year for Orlen was 1934, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Orlen is about 83 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Orlen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 226 people with the name Orlen, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #35,529 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 Orlen 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 Orlen?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Orlen leans strongly male. 206 people counted with this name were male (92.4%), compared with 17 female bearers (7.6%). 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 Orlen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Orlen is White at 47.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (40.3%) and Black (4.4%). 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 Orlen most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Orlen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.3% (107 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 Orlen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Orlen a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Orlen in the SSA data are male. 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 Orlen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Orlen 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 Orlen 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 Orlen?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.