Orlyn
An Old English name derived from a forest-related word meaning "boundary wood".
Name Census estimates that about 63 living Americans carry the first name Orlyn. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Orlyn today is around 71 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Orlyn births was 1923 (30 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Orlyn. 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 Orlyn is about 71 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Orlyns were born before 1965.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Orlyn. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
63
~ 1 in 5,440,545 Americans
Peak year
1923
30 babies that year
Average age
71
years old
2023 SSA rank
#13,617
Tracked since 1915
Census
Orlyn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 229 people with the first name Orlyn, which placed it at #35,223 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
#35,223
National first-name rank
People counted
229
229 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
55.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Orlyn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Orlyn is White at 55.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (33.6%) and Black (6.6%). 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 Orlyn 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 Orlyn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White55.9% · 128
- Hispanic or Latino33.6% · 77
- Black or African American6.6% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 5
- Two or more races1.3% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 1
Popularity
Orlyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Orlyn from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 115 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
Orlyn 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 Orlyn 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 Orlyn
The name Orlyn is believed to have its origins in the Old English language, which was spoken in parts of Britain from the 5th to the 11th centuries. It is likely derived from the Old English word "or," which means "beginning" or "origin," and the suffix "-lyn," which denotes a diminutive or affectionate form.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Orlyn can be found in the Domesday Book, a survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears as "Orlinus," which is thought to be a variant spelling of Orlyn. This suggests that the name was in use among the Anglo-Saxon population of England during the Norman conquest.
In the Middle Ages, the name Orlyn may have been associated with the concept of new beginnings or fresh starts, given its etymological connection to the word "origin." It is possible that the name held symbolic significance for families or communities seeking to establish themselves in new lands or embark on new endeavors.
One notable historical figure who bore the name Orlyn was Orlyn de Baskerville, a 13th-century English knight and landowner. He was a member of the influential Baskerville family and held lands in Herefordshire and Shropshire. His name is recorded in various legal documents and chronicles from that period.
Another individual named Orlyn was Orlyn de Lacy, a 14th-century English nobleman and soldier who fought in the Hundred Years' War. He served under King Edward III and participated in several major battles against the French, including the Battle of Crécy in 1346.
In the realm of literature, the name Orlyn appears in the works of Geoffrey Chaucer, the renowned English poet and author of "The Canterbury Tales." In his poem "The House of Fame," Chaucer mentions a character named "Orlyn the Great," though little is known about the historical basis for this figure.
During the Renaissance period, Orlyn Wycliffe was a respected English scholar and theologian born in 1484. He was a vocal critic of the Catholic Church and advocated for religious reforms, which influenced the later Protestant Reformation movement.
In the 16th century, Orlyn Woodburne was an English playwright and poet who gained recognition for his satirical works and contributions to the development of early modern English literature.
While the name Orlyn has fallen out of common use in more recent times, its historical roots and associations with concepts of origin, new beginnings, and literary significance make it a distinctive and intriguing choice for those seeking a name with a rich cultural heritage.
People
Orlyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Orlyn 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
Orlyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Orlyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 63 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Orlyn 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 5,440,545 US residents.
Is Orlyn a common name?
We classify Orlyn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 57.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 287 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Orlyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Orlyn was 1923, when 30 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Orlyn is about 71 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Orlyn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 229 people with the name Orlyn, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #35,223 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 Orlyn 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 Orlyn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Orlyn leans strongly male. 204 people counted with this name were male (87.9%), compared with 28 female bearers (12.1%). 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 Orlyn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Orlyn is White at 55.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (33.6%) and Black (6.6%). 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 Orlyn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Orlyn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.9% (128 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 Orlyn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Orlyn a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Orlyn 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 Orlyn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Orlyn 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 Orlyn 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 common is the name Orlyn?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.