Orvel vs Orvin
American parents have registered 1,157 Orvels since 1880, against 1,140 Orvins. Neither name reached five babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Orvel Orvin
Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.
Who was ahead
Of the 80 years in which either name was published, Orvin for 41 years and Orvel for 39 years. The lead changed hands 31 times.
- 1906–1914 Orvel ahead, apart from one short spell
- 1915–1917 Orvin ahead
- 1921–1929 Orvel ahead, apart from one short spell
- 1930–1932 Orvin ahead
- 1933–1952 Orvel ahead, apart from 2 short spells
- 1957–2024 Orvin ahead, apart from 2 short spells
20 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Orvel | Orvin | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 1,157 | 1,140 |
| Most in one year | 56 | 45 |
| Babies in 2025 | under 5 | under 5 |
| Estimated living today | 180 | 250 |
| Median age today | 77 | 68 |
| Peak year | 1919 | 1917 |
| Best rank | 890th boys | 964th boys |
| Rank in 2025 | unranked | unranked |
| First recorded | 1888 | 1890 |
| Girls / boys | 0 / 1,157 | 0 / 1,140 |
A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.
Which name is older
Half of the Orvels alive today are over 77; half the Orvins are over 68. That is 9 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
- Orvel Oklahoma (34.2×), Missouri (8.7×), Texas (1.6×)
- Orvin North Dakota (51.2×), Minnesota (31.6×), Wisconsin (10.3×)
How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Orvel and Orvin.