Orla sits comfortably in the UK charts at #64 in 2025 — recognisable but not overwhelming. Your child may occasionally share their name.
📊
UK Rank 2025
#64
Ad
About the Name Orla
Orla has held its ground, ranked #64 in 2025 and never far from its best of #56 in 2023 — a name with lasting rather than trend-driven appeal. The name has been a consistent presence in UK records since 1996. It has broken into the UK top 100 on 8 occasions, signalling genuine mainstream interest.
Orla is a very popular name in the UK — yet a class of 28 is small enough that your child will very likely be the only Orla on the register.
⭐ Famous People Named Orla
Orla Comerford — Orla Comerford is an Irish Paralympic athlete who competes in sprinting events at the international level.
Orla O'Dwyer — Orla O'Dwyer is an Irish Australian rules footballer who plays for the Brisbane in the AFL Women's competition (AFLW).
Orla Kiely — Orla Kiely, OBE is an Irish fashion designer based in London.
Biographical summaries are shortened from Wikipedia and are used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence; those summaries remain available under that same licence.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about the name Orla
Unlikely. With around 721 UK babies named Orla per year, your child will almost certainly be the only Orla in their class, and possibly the only one in the whole school.
Orla has been fairly steady, ranked #64 in 2025 against #72 in 2020. Its best recorded position was #56 in 2023.
Orla is a distinctive choice sitting outside the mainstream UK top names. Parents choosing less common names often find their children appreciate the individuality as they grow up, rarely needing to add an initial to distinguish themselves.
Notable people named Orla include: Orla Comerford, Orla O'Dwyer and Orla Kiely. Short summaries for each appear below.
Orla does not appear in the US top 1,000 baby names, making it a distinctively British choice — your child is unlikely to encounter American Orlas in the wild.
721
UK babies named Orla (2025)
~0.0
Expected classmates with this name (class of 28)
~0.4
In a school of 600
↑ 8 places
Rank change (last 5 years)
🏫 Who else is in the room?
In a typical UK class of 28, highlighted children share the name Orla
Almost certainly the only Orla in the class
Ad
UK Popularity (1996–2025)
Rank and birth count · ONS official data
No US data available for this name
✨ Similar names to Orla
Names with a similar style — each with their own classroom story
Orla Lynskey is an Irish academic in the areas of information privacy, data protection and information technology law, who is currently Chair of Law and Technology at the Faculty of Laws, University College London.