Orval
A masculine name of French origin referring to a valley spring.
Name Census estimates that about 1,456 living Americans carry the first name Orval. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Orval today is around 77 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Orval births was 1918 (304 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Orval. 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 Orval is about 77 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Orvals were born before 1959.
People living today
1.5K
~ 1 in 235,408 Americans
Peak year
1918
304 babies that year
Average age
77
years old
1995 SSA rank
#3,965
Tracked since 1880
Census
Orval in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,591 people with the first name Orval, which placed it at #8,935 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
#8,935
National first-name rank
People counted
1.6K
1,591 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
92.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Orval
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Orval is White at 92.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.9%) and Black (2.0%). 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 Orval 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 Orval at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.4% · 1,470
- Two or more races2.9% · 46
- Black or African American2.0% · 32
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 21
- Hispanic or Latino1.0% · 16
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 6
Gender
Gender distribution for Orval
Out of the 7,927 babies given the name Orval since 1880, 99.8% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Orval as a male name
- Ranked #7,576 in 1995
- 7 male births in 1995
- Peak: 1918 (304 births)
Orval as a female name
- Ranked #3,965 in 1929
- 7 female births in 1929
- Peak: 1929 (7 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Orval appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,588 people counted with this name, 99.4% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Orval: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Orval from the 1880s through to the 1990s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 2,291 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
Orval 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 Orval during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Orvals live
The SSA's state-level files cover 27 states and territories. Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois recorded the most babies named Orval, while Tennessee, Utah, Montana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 183 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Orval
The given name Orval has its origins in the French language, with the earliest recorded use dating back to the Middle Ages. It is believed to be derived from the Old French word "orval," which means "fertile valley" or "green valley." This suggests that the name may have been initially associated with agricultural or rural communities in France.
One of the earliest documented instances of the name Orval can be found in the 12th century, when Orval Abbey, a Cistercian monastery, was founded in the Gaume region of present-day Belgium. The abbey was named after the nearby Orval valley, which lent its name to the monastic establishment. This connection indicates that the name Orval had already gained recognition and usage during this period.
Throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the name Orval was primarily concentrated in France and the neighboring regions of Belgium and Luxembourg. It was often associated with rural or agricultural communities, reflecting its etymological roots. However, there are no significant historical figures or prominent individuals bearing the name Orval during this time period that have been widely documented.
In the 18th century, Orval Ormsby (1718-1789) was a British military officer who served in the American Revolutionary War. He fought on the side of the British forces and was involved in several campaigns, including the Battle of Long Island and the Battle of Brandywine. Ormsby's use of the name Orval highlights its presence in English-speaking regions during this era.
In the 19th century, Orval Hosford (1826-1906) was an American farmer and politician from Ohio. He served as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives and was actively involved in agricultural organizations, further reinforcing the name's connection to rural communities and farming.
Another notable individual with the name Orval was Orval Grove (1873-1931), an American engineer and inventor. He was granted several patents for his innovations in the field of mining and mineral processing, contributing to the development of industrial technologies during the early 20th century.
Orval Moore (1892-1971) was an American baseball player who played in the major leagues for the Philadelphia Athletics and the St. Louis Browns. He had a successful career as a utility player, showcasing the name's presence in the realm of professional sports.
While the name Orval has its roots in French and rural origins, its usage has spread across various cultures and regions over time, reflecting its enduring nature and adaptability.
People
Orval + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Orval 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
Orval: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Orval?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,456 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Orval 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 235,408 US residents.
Is Orval a common name?
We classify Orval as "Rare". It ranks above 92.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 7,927 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Orval most popular?
The single biggest year for Orval was 1918, when 304 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Orval is about 77 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Orval in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,591 people with the name Orval, or 0.53 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,935 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 Orval 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 Orval?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Orval appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,588 people counted with this name, 99.4% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Orval?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Orval is White at 92.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.9%) and Black (2.0%). 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 Orval most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Orval in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.4% (1,470 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 Orval in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Orval a male name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Orval 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 Orval still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Orval 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 Orval 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 Orval as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.