Orson

What Orson means

Meaning not yet sourced. Wiktionary has no word-by-word meaning for Orson yet, and we don’t write our own.

Editor’s note More popular in England & Wales than the US: #379 vs #1,425 in 2025 Worked out from the official US and England & Wales counts, not a meaning.

How popular is Orson?

US: Rising: up from #2112 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #472 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1883, when 12 boys got the name (#527 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 13,556 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 2,495 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 3,928 baby boys 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 WA (0.24 per 1,000 boys), MN (0.2 per 1,000 boys), CO (0.19 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Orson is #1425 in the US and #379 in England & Wales (2025).

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

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Orson were boys.

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

How to say it

Wiktionary only lists the US pronunciation so far.

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Arsen36 US · 4 E&W
• Arson10 US
• Arsyn8 US
• Orsen5 US

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 Orson

Boys

• Finley#333Editor’s note Used for both: 57% of US babies named Finley in 2025 were boys
• Bowen#266“son of Owen”^*
• Nash#255Editor’s note Up from #345 in 2015 to #255 in 2025 in the US
• Sutton#332“south + town”^*
• Jensen#282Editor’s note Up from #395 in 2015 to #282 in 2025 in the US
• Archer#98Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #289 in 2015, #98 in 2025

For a sister

• Lennon#214“descendant of Lover (Leannán)”^*
• Quincy#814Editor’s note Used for both: 44% of US babies named Quincy in 2025 were girls
• Carter#454“son of Arthur”^*
• Kinsley#93“Royal (a man's name) + s + woodland clearing”^*
• Quinn#97“descendant of Chief”^*
• Kensley#741Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1987, with 8 babies

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under From a surname, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Orson’s. Rank is US 2025.