# Orville (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/orville/  
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 | not recorded |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 35,220 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 35,065 / 155 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 3, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Invented by Fanny Burney for the hero of her novel Evelina. It has been suggested that it is based on the very old Welsh forename of Eurfyl, meaning 'gold'.

## 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 1918 | 11 | 2,977 |
| 1919 | 6 | 4,676 |
| 1920 | 8 | 3,873 |
| 1921 | 12 | 2,895 |
| 1922 | 12 | 2,919 |
| 1923 | 7 | 4,277 |
| 1924 | 9 | 3,605 |
| 1925 | 11 | 3,074 |
| 1926 | 11 | 3,006 |
| 1927 | 5 | 5,420 |
| 1928 | 9 | 3,386 |
| 1930 | 9 | 3,266 |
| 1931 | 11 | 2,717 |
| 1932 | 5 | 4,932 |
| 1934 | 5 | 4,812 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 9 | 8,589 |
| 2012 | 7 | 10,472 |
| 2013 | 13 | 6,514 |
| 2014 | 17 | 5,420 |
| 2015 | 12 | 6,976 |
| 2016 | 13 | 6,624 |
| 2017 | 19 | 5,061 |
| 2018 | 11 | 7,486 |
| 2019 | 17 | 5,504 |
| 2020 | 12 | 6,925 |
| 2021 | 16 | 5,717 |
| 2022 | 13 | 6,738 |
| 2023 | 12 | 7,184 |
| 2024 | 12 | 7,147 |
| 2025 | 14 | 6,347 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 3 | 3,467 |

## In other languages

- Chinese: 奧維爾 /奥维尔

## People named Orville

- Orville Wright, American aviation pioneer (1871–1948)
- Orville Gibson, American luthier (1856–1918)
- Orville Turnquest, Bahamian politician
- Orville Freeman, American politician (1918-2003)
- Orville Hickman Browning, American politician (1806-1881)
- Orville H. Platt, American politician (1827-1905)
- Orville Brown, American professional wrestler
- Jereboam Orville Beauchamp, American executed murderer (1802–1826)
- Lefty Frizzell, American country singer-songwriter (1928–1975)
- Joseph O. Shelby, Confederate States Army general (1830–1897)

## 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.