Orris
Masculine
Orris is given to both — 939 boys and 49 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Orris is a family name that became a first name, and it shares its spelling with something else entirely — a root that has scented European perfume, gin and powdered wigs for four hundred years. The two have nothing to do with each other, which is worth saying plainly before the coincidence gets told as an origin.
How old is the name Orris?
Orris first appears in US birth records in 1894 — 131 years ago. The typical Orris alive today was born around 1924, making them about 101 years old. About 100 people named Orris are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Orris most popular?
Orris peaked in 1901, reaching #779 nationally. See the whole 1901 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Orris
The other orris is a good story even though it is not this name's. Orris root is the rhizome of certain irises, dug up, dried and then left alone for years — often three or more — because it smells of almost nothing when fresh and only develops its violet scent as it ages in storage. Perfumers use it as a fixative, the thing that makes everything else in a bottle last longer; gin distillers use it for the same reason. It was in hair powder and in snuff, and it has been traded across Europe since the Renaissance. What that leaves for the name is not a meaning but a set of associations any bearer is free to take or leave: patience, keeping, the quality that makes other things hold.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The name has no documented source. It arrived in American records as a surname, and where a surname's own history is lost the given name inherits the silence. The perfumer's orris is a different word, worn down from the Latin iris, and there is no evidence any family was named from it.
Pronouncing Orris
OR-iss
Two syllables, stress at the front, ending in a soft s. It rhymes with Boris and with Horace as most Americans say it.
Nicknames for Orris
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
- 1894
- Most boys named
- 191845 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #779reached in 1901
- Change vs 1993
- 0.0%5 in 2022, from 5
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.
Orriss among us
people named Orris are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Orris sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It is short, clear and carried by almost nobody, which is a hard pairing to find.
- It has the settled sound of an old family name rather than a recent invention.
- Nothing in the spelling is ambiguous; it is read correctly on sight.
- It is very close to Morris, Norris, Doris and Horace, and it will be heard as one of them constantly.
- The spelling is recorded for girls as well as boys, and the recent handful have gone to both.
- There is no meaning to offer a child, and the perfumer's root is a coincidence rather than an inheritance.
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What they receive
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Orris
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Orriss are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 100 people named Orris are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Orris in 2025?
- Orris is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Orris with classmates?
- Orris will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More O names
The most-given names starting with O, all years combined.
Oliver#3 · Owen#31 · Oscar#223 · Omar#260 · Otis#652 · Orlando#871 · Otto#277 · Orville#6143
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Orris? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Orris and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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