Orhan
Masculine · “great khan”
Orhan is a Turkish ruler-name — han, the khan, joined to a front element about greatness — and the second Ottoman sultan carried it.
How old is the name Orhan?
Orhan first appears in US birth records in 1997 — 28 years ago. The typical Orhan is a kid of about 3 — this name's wave is very recent. About 500 people named Orhan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Orhan most popular?
Orhan peaked in 2025, reaching #1753 nationally. Today it ranks #1753, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From han to Orhan
The story of Orhan
Orhan Gazi succeeded his father Osman in 1324 and ruled the young Ottoman state for thirty-five years, taking Bursa and crossing into Europe — the reign that turned a frontier principality into a state. Orhan Pamuk won the Nobel in 2006. Turkish emigration brought it to America, where it is in current use.
Meaningscholars disagree
great khan, chief ruler
From the Turkish han, 'khan' or 'ruler', with a front element read variously as or, 'great' or 'high place', or as a Mongol element. The han part is entirely settled; the front is not. The reading 'great khan' is the commonest given.
How the name formed
- han
- Orhan
Related forms: Orhan · Orxan · Orhan
Pronouncing Orhan
or-HAHN
Two syllables, stress on the second. Turkish gives the h a fuller breath than English does.
Nicknames for Orhan
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1997
- Most boys named
- 202592 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1753reached in 2025
- Change vs 2024
- +41.5%92 in 2025, from 65
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Orhan in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Orhan in Turkish — same name
- Orxan in Azerbaijani — same name
- Orhan in Bosnian — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, New York, Texas.
Orhans among us
people named Orhan are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 18,566 born in 2025 was named Orhan
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Deshun test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Orhan's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Deshun climbed just as high around 1994, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Deshun's path sketches the road Orhan is walking now.
Orhan is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Orhan is headed
Orhan is on a steep climb — if the curve holds, 2030 could see around 87% more babies given the name than today. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Orhan beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Orhan in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The khan element is transparent and undisputed.
- The second Ottoman sultan and a Nobel laureate both carry it.
- The end stress gives it a strong rhythm against a front-stressed surname.
- The front element's reading is genuinely unsettled.
- It reads as specifically Turkish.
- The h in the middle is often dropped by English speakers.
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What they receive
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Orhan
Masculine · #1753 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Orhans are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Orhan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Orhan in 2025?
- Orhan ranks #1753 among US boy names in 2025, with 92 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Orhan?
- About 1 in every 18,566 US boys born in 2025 was named Orhan — 92 in all.
- Will my child share the name Orhan with classmates?
- Orhan will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Orhan
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ames#1753 · Yehoshua#1753 · Salomon#1753 · Akai#1753 · Keyler#1753 · Arley#1753 · Riaan#1753 · Zealand#1753
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Orhan? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Orhan and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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