Orvil vs Orvin
American parents have registered 1,935 Orvils since 1880, against 1,140 Orvins. Neither name reached five babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Orvil 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 87 years in which either name was published, Orvil for 66 years and Orvin for 21 years. The lead changed hands 12 times.
- 1897–1952 Orvil ahead, apart from one short spell
- 1958–1962 Orvin ahead
- 1963–1991 Orvil ahead, apart from one short spell
- 1999–2024 Orvin ahead
7 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Orvil | Orvin | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 1,935 | 1,140 |
| Most in one year | 86 | 45 |
| Babies in 2025 | under 5 | under 5 |
| Estimated living today | 340 | 250 |
| Median age today | 75 | 68 |
| Peak year | 1921 | 1917 |
| Best rank | 698th boys | 964th boys |
| Rank in 2025 | unranked | unranked |
| First recorded | 1897 | 1890 |
| Girls / boys | 0 / 1,935 | 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 Orvils alive today are over 75; half the Orvins are over 68. That is 7 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
- Orvil Oklahoma (24.7×), Arkansas (15.1×), Kentucky (11.3×)
- 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: Orvil and Orvin.