Humanverse

Orlena vs Orlin

American parents have registered 1,683 Orlins since 1880, against 648 Orlenas. Orlin is still ahead, with 22 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Orlena against Orlin, 1880 to 2025 0 13 25 38 50 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Orlena Orlin

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 125 years in which either name was published, Orlin for 87 years and Orlena for 38 years. The lead changed hands 11 times.

Side by side

  Orlena Orlin
Total US births 6481,683
Most in one year 2348
Babies in 2025 under 522
Estimated living today 170690
Median age today 5422
Peak year 19211932
Best rank 1,821st girls937th boys
Rank in 2025 unranked4,539th
First recorded 18811908
Girls / boys 648 / 00 / 1,683

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 Orlenas alive today are over 54; half the Orlins are over 22. That is 32 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Orlena and Orlin.