Orla

What Orla means

Means “golden princess”

Anglicized version of Irish Órfhlaith (“golden princess”), from ór (“gold”) + flaith (“princess”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Orla” (revision 83830433), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Orla?

US: Rising: up from #4584 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #106 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2024, when 71 girls got the name (#2508 that year). First in the US records in 1892.

How common

• About 1 in 22,961 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 351 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 134 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in NY (0.14 per 1,000 girls), PA (0.13 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Orla is #2514 in the US and #64 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Orla were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

Other spellings

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Arla26 US · 82 E&W
• Arlo71 US · 8 E&W
• Orly29 US · 3 E&W
• Orlagh0 US · 28 E&W
• Orli22 US · 4 E&W
• Arly15 US
• Arli14 US
• Arlah0 US · 5 E&W

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Orla

Girls

• Rory#230“red-haired king”^*
• Maeve#76“intoxicating”^*
• Kenna#759“descendant of Cionaodh”^*
• Rowan#249“little red one”^*
• Teagan#340Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1979, with 6 babies
• Gwen#725Same root as Wendy, meaning “watercourse with a bend + island”^*

For a brother

• Ronan#247Irish, meaning “little seal”^*
• Finn#206“the Sami”^*
• Lachlan#606Editor’s note Up from #767 in 2015 to #606 in 2025 in the US
• Lochlan#644Editor’s note Up from #841 in 2015 to #644 in 2025 in the US
• Kian#400Editor’s note Up from #489 in 2015 to #400 in 2025 in the US
• Rowan#59“little red one”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Irish & Celtic, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Orla’s. Rank is US 2025.