Oral
Oral was last recorded in 2003, when 6 babies were given it; 3,308 Americans have been recorded with it between 1880 and 2003 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Oral by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Oral mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Oral is “a male given name from Latin of American usage”
Ultimately from Latin Aurelius.
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Oral?
Unranked in 2025
Its last boys’ rank on record is #10,506, in 2003; SSA lists a name only in years with 5 or more births.
123 babies in 1917, the peak
Oral peaked in 1917, when 123 babies were given it (99 boys, #598 among boys’ names). It was not recorded in 2025.
Births by sex.
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | under 5 | 6 | #10,506 | |
| 2001 | under 5 | 5 | #11,831 | |
| 1997 | under 5 | 5 | #10,368 | |
| 1994 | under 5 | 7 | #7,528 | |
| 1993 | under 5 | 6 | #8,389 | |
| 1992 | under 5 | 8 | #6,517 | |
| 1991 | under 5 | 5 | #9,210 | |
| 1990 | under 5 | 6 | #7,834 | |
| 1988 | under 5 | 7 | #6,252 | |
| 1985 | under 5 | 5 | #7,293 |
Every recorded year (109)
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | under 5 | 9 | #4,445 | |
| 1983 | under 5 | 6 | #6,014 | |
| 1982 | under 5 | 5 | #7,073 | |
| 1979 | under 5 | 8 | #4,721 | |
| 1978 | under 5 | 6 | #5,573 | |
| 1977 | under 5 | 8 | #4,466 | |
| 1976 | under 5 | 5 | #6,229 | |
| 1975 | under 5 | 11 | #3,376 | |
| 1973 | under 5 | 11 | #3,157 | |
| 1972 | under 5 | 5 | #5,535 | |
| 1971 | under 5 | 8 | #3,862 | |
| 1970 | under 5 | 10 | #3,214 | |
| 1969 | under 5 | 8 | #3,507 | |
| 1968 | under 5 | 10 | #2,862 | |
| 1967 | under 5 | 11 | #2,573 | |
| 1966 | under 5 | 9 | #2,920 | |
| 1965 | under 5 | 17 | #1,974 | |
| 1964 | under 5 | 12 | #2,513 | |
| 1963 | under 5 | 17 | #2,019 | |
| 1962 | under 5 | 22 | #1,741 | |
| 1961 | under 5 | 29 | #1,511 | |
| 1960 | under 5 | 23 | #1,718 | |
| 1959 | under 5 | 27 | #1,547 | |
| 1958 | under 5 | 34 | #1,333 | |
| 1957 | under 5 | 29 | #1,474 | |
| 1956 | under 5 | 50 | #1,077 | |
| 1955 | under 5 | 56 | #1,005 | |
| 1954 | under 5 | 50 | #1,061 | |
| 1953 | 5 | #6,300 | 39 | #1,206 |
| 1952 | under 5 | 36 | #1,237 | |
| 1951 | 6 | #5,264 | 30 | #1,367 |
| 1950 | under 5 | 25 | #1,488 | |
| 1949 | 5 | #5,826 | 26 | #1,453 |
| 1948 | under 5 | 21 | #1,644 | |
| 1947 | 5 | #5,901 | 21 | #1,686 |
| 1946 | under 5 | 22 | #1,544 | |
| 1945 | under 5 | 19 | #1,565 | |
| 1944 | under 5 | 20 | #1,566 | |
| 1943 | 6 | #4,563 | 20 | #1,621 |
| 1942 | under 5 | 24 | #1,454 | |
| 1941 | under 5 | 23 | #1,438 | |
| 1940 | under 5 | 28 | #1,284 | |
| 1939 | under 5 | 19 | #1,568 | |
| 1938 | 5 | #4,826 | 21 | #1,512 |
| 1937 | 6 | #4,151 | 24 | #1,395 |
| 1936 | 8 | #3,316 | 38 | #1,045 |
| 1935 | 5 | #4,732 | 36 | #1,092 |
| 1934 | under 5 | 39 | #1,053 | |
| 1933 | under 5 | 39 | #1,044 | |
| 1932 | 5 | #4,924 | 34 | #1,170 |
| 1931 | under 5 | 43 | #1,024 | |
| 1930 | under 5 | 44 | #1,046 | |
| 1929 | 10 | #3,083 | 47 | #992 |
| 1928 | 9 | #3,383 | 56 | #897 |
| 1927 | 9 | #3,497 | 60 | #880 |
| 1926 | 5 | #5,437 | 57 | #893 |
| 1925 | 13 | #2,737 | 63 | #841 |
| 1924 | 10 | #3,319 | 77 | #770 |
| 1923 | 9 | #3,582 | 49 | #1,006 |
| 1922 | 18 | #2,171 | 82 | #728 |
| 1921 | 14 | #2,605 | 80 | #743 |
| 1920 | 24 | #1,739 | 84 | #710 |
| 1919 | 26 | #1,594 | 79 | #712 |
| 1918 | 19 | #2,007 | 72 | #770 |
| 1917 | 24 | #1,592 | 99 | #598 |
| 1916 | 28 | #1,398 | 83 | #645 |
| 1915 | 22 | #1,606 | 83 | #639 |
| 1914 | 11 | #2,231 | 55 | #693 |
| 1913 | 12 | #1,854 | 44 | #688 |
| 1912 | 12 | #1,703 | 38 | #699 |
| 1911 | 8 | #1,916 | 22 | #681 |
| 1910 | 7 | #2,085 | 22 | #632 |
| 1909 | 8 | #1,715 | 18 | #648 |
| 1908 | 11 | #1,327 | 14 | #735 |
| 1907 | 6 | #1,995 | 13 | #767 |
| 1906 | 14 | #1,033 | 14 | #672 |
| 1905 | 7 | #1,654 | 16 | #609 |
| 1904 | under 5 | 13 | #675 | |
| 1903 | 7 | #1,544 | 7 | #989 |
| 1902 | 8 | #1,410 | 11 | #720 |
| 1901 | 6 | #1,622 | 7 | #919 |
| 1900 | 13 | #1,091 | 15 | #670 |
| 1899 | under 5 | 10 | #697 | |
| 1898 | 6 | #1,646 | 16 | #535 |
| 1897 | under 5 | 9 | #770 | |
| 1896 | 12 | #988 | 9 | #813 |
| 1895 | 6 | #1,550 | 13 | #596 |
| 1894 | 6 | #1,450 | 17 | #495 |
| 1893 | 11 | #946 | 10 | #694 |
| 1892 | 10 | #1,003 | 18 | #474 |
| 1891 | 7 | #1,184 | 8 | #752 |
| 1890 | under 5 | 12 | #592 | |
| 1889 | 5 | #1,432 | 9 | #709 |
| 1888 | 5 | #1,426 | 11 | #636 |
| 1887 | 6 | #1,124 | under 5 | |
| 1886 | 6 | #1,075 | 9 | #681 |
| 1884 | under 5 | 11 | #597 | |
| 1883 | under 5 | 5 | #1,006 | |
| 1880 | under 5 | 8 | #725 |
Ranks: girls’ names and boys’ names ranked separately in each year’s SSA file; “under 5” is a year SSA did not list the name for that sex.
Is Oral a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 3,308 Americans recorded as Oral, 15% are girls and 85% boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Oral: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Oral, and how old are they?
An estimated 678 Americans named Oral and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (21% of everyone recorded); the median is 70 years old and half are between 60 and 75. An estimate from SSA’s births and life tables, not a count.
The 2020 Census counted 1,404 people named Oral (84 women and girls, 1,320 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 852 born in the U.S. The Census count is 1.6 times that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Oral born?
The states with the most babies named Oral are Missouri, Kentucky and West Virginia, with 45% of its births recorded by state since 1910; Missouri and Kentucky and West Virginia are not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Missouri | 151 | not ranked | 1.9× |
| Kentucky | 110 | not ranked | 1.6× |
| West Virginia | 90 | not ranked | 2.0× |
| Illinois | 88 | not ranked | 0.6× |
| Indiana | 81 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| Oklahoma | 68 | not ranked | 1.2× |
| North Carolina | 48 | not ranked | 0.5× |
| Arkansas | 26 | not ranked | 0.6× |
| Ohio | 20 | not ranked | 0.1× |
| Texas | 20 | not ranked | 0.1× |
Where Oral is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Oral is most over-represented in Missouri: since 1910 it was given 1.9 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Oral with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 4 names spelled alike, given to 4,661 babies since 1880, Oral is the most given (71% of them). In 2025 none of their 30 babies recorded by SSA was a Oral (SSA lists a name only with 5 or more babies of one sex).
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Oral
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Oral and names like it
- Compare Oral and OrelBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1910sOral peaked in 1917.
- Missouri’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Oral since 1910.
- The top names of 1917The year the most babies were named Oral.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Oral alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with OMost given first.