Head to head · Boys' names
Martin vs Orion
#335 vs #334 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Orion is a whisker ahead (#334 vs #335 in 2025) and both are holding its place on the charts. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
The tape is even: Martin and Orion each lead 2 measures of 6.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Martin #50, Orion #888 — Martin higher
- 1890s: Martin #62, Orion #767 — Martin higher
- 1900s: Martin #75, Orion #1153 — Martin higher
- 1910s: Martin #78, Orion #1372 — Martin higher
- 1920s: Martin #81, Orion #1417 — Martin higher
- 1930s: Martin #89, Orion #1864 — Martin higher
- 1940s: Martin #87, Orion #2315 — Martin higher
- 1950s: Martin #78, Orion #2560 — Martin higher
- 1960s: Martin #72, Orion #2830 — Martin higher
- 1970s: Martin #115, Orion #1351 — Martin higher
- 1980s: Martin #123, Orion #1108 — Martin higher
- 1990s: Martin #140, Orion #869 — Martin higher
- 2000s: Martin #202, Orion #548 — Martin higher
- 2010s: Martin #268, Orion #377 — Martin higher
- 2020s: Martin #304, Orion #334 — Martin higher
Martin stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Martin | Orion |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #50 | #888 |
| 1890s | #62 | #767 |
| 1900s | #75 | #1153 |
| 1910s | #78 | #1372 |
| 1920s | #81 | #1417 |
| 1930s | #89 | #1864 |
| 1940s | #87 | #2315 |
| 1950s | #78 | #2560 |
| 1960s | #72 | #2830 |
| 1970s | #115 | #1351 |
| 1980s | #123 | #1108 |
| 1990s | #140 | #869 |
| 2000s | #202 | #548 |
| 2010s | #268 | #377 |
| 2020s | #304 | #334 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Martin
- France#34
Orion
Not charting outside the US.
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Martin
of Mars
The Latin name derives from the war god, in the ordinary Roman way of forming names from divine ones, and the reading is settled. The irony is not lost on anyone: the saint who made the name universal was a Roman soldier who refused to fight, on the grounds that he was a soldier of Christ, and was imprisoned as a coward before being let go.
A Latin name formed from the war god → A fourth-century soldier who refused to fight → One of the most widely observed feast days in Europe → Martin in continuous use in every European language
How it traveled
The goose story appears early and stuck. The feast falls on the eleventh of November, which in the northern European farming year is the point where the grazing ends, the animals that cannot be overwintered are killed, the salting begins and the new wine is ready.
Orion
Not established
The Greek Ōríōn has no settled etymology; it is generally treated as pre-Greek, older than the language that preserved it. What is documented is the figure and the constellation: Orion the hunter appears in both the Iliad and the Odyssey, Hesiod uses his rising and setting to mark the farming year in Works and Days, and the Greek and English translations of the Book of Job list Orion among the constellations God set in place. Scholars have proposed links to an Akkadian phrase for heavenly light, but none has been established.
Ōríōn (Greek) → Orion (Latin) → Orion (English)
How it traveled
The name reaches English from Greek by the shortest possible road: Ōríōn in Homer and Hesiod, Orion in Latin, Orion in English, unchanged in spelling for centuries. In Greek myth he is a giant hunter, killed and then placed among the stars, which is why the same word names a man and a constellation — and why it survived antiquity in the mouths of astronomers rather than parents.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Martin
MAR-tin
Two syllables, stress on the first, in English. French drops the final n into a nasal vowel and puts the stress at the back, and Spanish puts it at the back with an accent to say so, so the same spelling is said three ways across Europe.
- Marty — The American softening, unisex and thoroughly mid-century in feel.
- Tino — The Spanish and Italian clipping, taken from the back and sounding nothing like the front.
- Mart — Blunt and flat, and common in Dutch and Estonian use as a full name.
Orion
oh-RYE-un
The middle syllable takes the stress in English. A lighter uh-RYE-un is common in casual speech. In Spanish, Italian and Greek the stress moves to the end — o-ree-ON — so relatives abroad may say it differently, which the name has tolerated for a long time.
- Ori — The most used short form; also a standalone given name in Hebrew, so it reads as a full name to some ears.
- Rio — Pulled from the middle of the name; informal, and independently in use as a given name.
- Ry — Informal, drawn from the stressed middle syllable; overlaps with short forms of Ryan.
- O — Family and friend usage rather than anything written down.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Martin if you want…
- a name holding steadyMartin is holding its place on the charts
- a name with fewer syllablesMartin is 2 syllables to Orion's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooMartin is on the national lists of France
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 40% for Orion
Choose Orion if you want…
- a name with more sound in itOrion runs 3 syllables, Martin 2
- a name that feels very nowOrion is holding its place on the charts
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Martin
Strengths
- It is used unchanged in more European languages than almost any other name.
- It is completely familiar, universally spellable and needs no explaining.
- It has an unbroken record of about seventeen hundred years.
To consider
- The stress falls differently in English, French and Spanish, which a bilingual family will notice.
- It is also an extremely common surname, which occasionally causes confusion on forms.
- The spelling is on the register for girls as well, in very small numbers.
Orion
Strengths
- Spelled the way most Americans have already seen it, on star charts and in astronomy books, so it rarely needs repeating twice.
- An unbroken written record from Homer and Hesiod to modern English, with the spelling essentially intact.
- Ready-made short forms in real use: Ori and Rio, both of which also stand alone as names.
To consider
- Two English pronunciations circulate, oh-RYE-un and the lighter uh-RYE-un, and Spanish or Greek speakers will stress the final syllable. Nothing breaks, but expect to state your preference now and then.
- The celestial association is unavoidable — belt jokes, telescope gifts, and the assumption that you are a stargazing household. Some families enjoy that; it is worth knowing it comes with the name.
- This one is very unlikely to be duplicated in a classroom, which cuts both ways: no shared-name confusion, and no other child who already knows how to say it.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Martin
12%chance Martin feels dated by 2040
Martin has held the top-100 across 9 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
Orion
40%chance Orion feels dated by 2040
Orion sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Martin and Orion in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Martin and Orion — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Martin or Orion — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Martin or Orion?
- Orion, in 2025: Orion ranked #334 with 1,012 babies; Martin ranked #335 with 1,009 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Martin or Orion?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Martin moved down 42 places; Orion moved down 9 places.
- Which is the older name, Martin or Orion?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Martin and Orion?
- About 204,000 people named Martin are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 22,000 people named Orion are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Martins or Orions in the classroom?
- Martin will almost certainly be the only one in school. Orion will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
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