Name Awesome

Orel

#11,639 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Light of God

Orel has been given to 698 babies in the U.S. since 1883. In 2025 it ranked #11,639 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1916, with 27 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 81% boys, 19% girls all-time.

Babies named Orel, 2025

1 in 553,000

Orel over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
020406018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Orel over time

In 2025, Orel went to 0% girls and 100% boys.

18832025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Orel: meaning, origin, and history

Light of God

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Orel means

Orel means “light of God”.

Documented naming usage and pronunciation

Orel is used in Hebrew.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 562 boys were recorded with the name Orel between 1883 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 27 in 1916; its best national rank was #1,007 in 1883.

Over 10 years its rank fell, from #10,320 in 2015 to #11,639 in 2025.

In the United States, 136 girls were recorded with the name Orel between 1915 and 2009. Its highest annual count was 46 in 1916; its best national rank was #1,020 in 1916.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

How common is Orel?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 553,000
6 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 285,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#11,639
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
382,984 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Orel sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 382,984 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Orel. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Orels were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Orel was born before 1933 — so the typical Orel is around 92 today.

Median birth year
1933
About 92 years old
Biggest decade
1910s
21.7% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
21.0%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
212
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1910s — 21.7% of all recorded uses (122).

Is Orel rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+2,072
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
New entry
Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago
−1,319
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.86×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
22.2%
Peak was 1916 (27)
Years since peak
109
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
23.2% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,007
1883

Spellings of Orel

Orel is not the most common spelling — Fred is, with 17.7% against Orel's 0.03%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Orel is used — boys

Across 1910–2025, Orel was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 1,533,810 across all states with data. It was least common in New York (1 in —).

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in —
  2. 2Kentucky1 in —
  3. 3New York1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Orel has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Where Orel is used — girls

Across 1910–2025, Orel was most concentrated in Minnesota — about 1 in — girls, against 1 in 1,152,700 across all states with data. It was least common in Wisconsin (1 in —).

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Minnesota1 in —
  2. 2Texas1 in —
  3. 3Wisconsin1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Orel has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Orel around the world

Where Orel ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    2017–2017
    #4,812
    in 2017
  • France
    1923–2025
    #2,303
    in 2025

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics and Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques. ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0.

Orel by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#11,639
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
New entry
Best rank ever
#1,007
1883
Peak year
1916
27 that year
First recorded
1883
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
562
Count in 2025
6

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#1,020
1916
Peak year
1916
46 that year
First recorded
1915
Last recorded
2009
All-time count
136
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Orel

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

OrestArelKarelOreeJorelYarelJarelOrenAurelHarelBerelOresteOreyOrellDarelMurelTyrelJerelOrestesAzarelMontrelOreoluwaMerelDontrel

Sibling names for Orel

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Orel

Top names of 1916, Orel's peak yearThe 1910s in fullOther names that peaked in 1883Boys' names starting with O