UK girl's name
Orlaith
A feminine given name of Irish origin meaning "golden princess".
For 2026, the newest official UK baby-name figures on this page are from 2024. That release is the current official benchmark rather than a forecast.
Orlaith is a girl's name in the UK records. People looking for Orlaith popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2024 in this profile. In that release it ranked #654, with 59 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 2016, with 92 births.
This profile covers 1,357 England and Wales registrations across 29 recorded years from 1996 to 2024. The figures come from ONS England and Wales, NRS Scotland and NISRA Northern Ireland, so the page is a view of published baby-name registrations rather than a forecast or a live count of people using the name today.
The latest count is about 64% of the recorded peak, which gives a quick read on how the name has moved since its high point.
We estimate that about 2,573 living people in the UK are called Orlaith. This uses published birth registrations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, then applies ONS national life tables to estimate how many are likely still alive. It does not forecast extra births for 2025 or 2026.
Key insights
- • Orlaith ranked #654 for girls in England and Wales in 2024, with 59 registrations.
- • The name peaked in 2016, when 92 girls were registered as Orlaith.
- • Orlaith ranks best in Northern Ireland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #119 in 2024.
- • About 2,573 living people in the UK are estimated to have Orlaith as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.
Latest rank (E&W)
#654
2024
Births in 2024
59
Latest year
Peak year
2016
92 births
Estimated living
2,573
2026
Meaning
What does Orlaith mean?
The name Orlaith is of Irish origin, derived from the Gaelic words 'ór' meaning 'golden' and 'flaith' meaning 'princess' or 'sovereign'. It is a feminine name that first appeared in ancient Irish texts and folklore, associated with concepts of beauty, nobility, and leadership.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Orlaith can be found in the medieval Irish tale "The Wooing of Étaín", which dates back to the 8th or 9th century AD. In this story, Orlaith is the name of a beautiful maiden who becomes the object of desire for the High King of Ireland, Eochaid Feidlech.
During the Middle Ages, the name Orlaith was borne by several prominent Irish women, including Orlaith ingen Muiredaig (c. 900 AD), who was the wife of the King of Leinster, and Orlaith ingen Cennétig (c. 1050 AD), a renowned poet and scholar.
In the 12th century, the name appears in the Annals of the Four Masters, a chronicle of medieval Irish history, where an Orlaith ingen Áeda is mentioned as the wife of Domnall Ua Briain, the King of Thomond.
Another notable figure with the name Orlaith was Orlaith Ni Mhuireadhaigh (c. 1450-1510), a celebrated Irish noblewoman and patron of the arts, who commissioned several important literary works during her lifetime.
In more recent times, the name Orlaith has been carried by individuals such as Orlaith Finn (1904-1988), an Irish republican activist and member of Cumann na mBan, and Orlaith McBride (born 1962), an Irish civil servant and former Director of the National Archives of Ireland.
While the name Orlaith has always been more prevalent in Ireland due to its Gaelic origins, it has also been adopted by families in other parts of the world, particularly among those with Irish heritage or an appreciation for Celtic culture and traditions.
Sourced from namecensus.com.
Popularity
Orlaith over time
The chart below shows babies named Orlaith registered in England and Wales in the years where the name appears in the published records, from 1996 to 2024. Empty years are left out so rare names are not stretched across long periods where the published files do not show any registrations.
For Orlaith, the clearest high point is 2016. The latest England and Wales figure is 59 births in 2024, compared with 92 at the peak.
Babies born per year
Decades
Orlaith by decade
Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Orlaith was a short-lived spike or a name that stayed in regular use. Average rank is calculated only from years where a published rank exists.
| Decade | Average rank | Total births | Years covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020s | #600 | 331 | 5 |
| 2010s | #560 | 752 | 10 |
| 2000s | #1592 | 247 | 10 |
| 1990s | #2231 | 27 | 4 |
Geography
Where Orlaith is most common
The bars show the latest published local birth counts for Orlaith. They are useful for spotting where the name is showing up in real numbers, while the rank beside each bar shows how strongly it performs inside that region.
Orlaith ranks best in Northern Ireland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #119 in 2024.
Across the UK
Orlaith in Scotland and Northern Ireland
Scotland (NRS)
#138 in 2024
21 years of NRS records, 524 total registered
Northern Ireland (NISRA)
#119 in 2024
28 years of NISRA records, 705 total registered
Related
Names similar to Orlaith
- Olivia 123,111
- Orla 10,799
- Olive 6,815
- Ophelia 4,939
- Ottilie 4,407
- Oliwia 2,608
- Ocean 1,811
- Olivia-Rose 1,250
- Octavia 1,243
- Olivia-Grace 618
- Orlagh 608
- Oriana 592
FAQ
Orlaith: questions and answers
How popular is the name Orlaith in the UK right now?
In 2024, Orlaith was ranked #654 for girls in England and Wales, with 59 births registered.
When was Orlaith most popular?
The peak year on record was 2016, with 92 babies registered as Orlaith in England and Wales.
What is the meaning and origin of Orlaith?
A feminine given name of Irish origin meaning "golden princess".
How many people are called Orlaith in the UK?
A total of 1,357 babies have been registered as Orlaith across the 29 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here, plus 524 more in Scotland and 705 in Northern Ireland.
Where is Orlaith most common?
In the latest published local rankings, Orlaith ranks best in Northern Ireland, where it placed #119 in 2024. The regional bars on this page use birth counts, so they also reflect the size of each region.
Which records is this page based on?
The England and Wales timeline uses ONS baby-name records. Scotland figures come from NRS and Northern Ireland figures come from NISRA. Counts are registrations in published baby-name files. The living estimate uses those birth registrations with ONS national life tables.