# Orion (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/orion/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | Greek |
| Meaning | “heaven's light” |
| Pronunciation | /əˈɹaɪ.ən/, 3 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 23,750 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 23,120 / 630 (3% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 1,241, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Middle English Orioun, from Latin Ōrīōn, from Ancient Greek Ὠρίων (Ōríōn), speculatively from Akkadian 𒌋𒊒𒀭𒈾 (Uru-anna, “heaven's light”), though without any firm evidence.

## What it means

Orion is grouped under light.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 14 | 8,524 |
| 2012 | 21 | 6,288 |
| 2013 | 14 | 8,464 |
| 2014 | 24 | 5,589 |
| 2015 | 22 | 5,983 |
| 2016 | 33 | 4,413 |
| 2017 | 34 | 4,289 |
| 2018 | 34 | 4,218 |
| 2019 | 28 | 4,871 |
| 2020 | 26 | 4,974 |
| 2021 | 40 | 3,785 |
| 2022 | 21 | 5,937 |
| 2023 | 23 | 5,509 |
| 2024 | 32 | 4,452 |
| 2025 | 18 | 6,491 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 574 | 471 |
| 2012 | 679 | 419 |
| 2013 | 759 | 395 |
| 2014 | 821 | 381 |
| 2015 | 877 | 367 |
| 2016 | 1,072 | 324 |
| 2017 | 1,023 | 335 |
| 2018 | 1,152 | 300 |
| 2019 | 1,077 | 313 |
| 2020 | 1,016 | 325 |
| 2021 | 1,056 | 314 |
| 2022 | 1,021 | 332 |
| 2023 | 869 | 373 |
| 2024 | 1,065 | 325 |
| 2025 | 1,012 | 334 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 3 | 5,891 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 21 | 1,209 |
| 2012 | 28 | 998 |
| 2013 | 43 | 751 |
| 2014 | 48 | 684 |
| 2015 | 61 | 601 |
| 2016 | 64 | 576 |
| 2017 | 82 | 493 |
| 2018 | 95 | 436 |
| 2019 | 63 | 589 |
| 2020 | 94 | 426 |
| 2021 | 83 | 482 |
| 2022 | 95 | 430 |
| 2023 | 84 | 478 |
| 2024 | 100 | 406 |
| 2025 | 113 | 370 |

## People named Orion

- Orion of Thebes, Egyptian grammarian

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.