Given name
Orpheus
Orpheus is a masculine given name, possibly from Ancient Greek. It is used in English and Cebuano.
Original Ancient GreekὈρφεύς
Meaning & origin
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Greek.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1916. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Orpheus through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 81
- 81 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1968
- 11 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 5 in 2024. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 11 in 1968. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 125 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Orpheus’s family of names
Orpheus has a feminine form in Orfea. In English usage, Orpheus has a conventional equivalent in the Italian form Orfeo. Orpheus has a related form in Orfeo.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 13
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Orphievariant
- Orfeovariant · Italian
- Orpheovariant
- Orpheavariant
- Orpheevariant
- Orpheyvariant
- Orphyvariant
- Orphivariant
Show 5 moreShow fewer
Across languages 3
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
Similar names
If you love Orpheus, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Dinos
“one who is steadfast; firm”
>99% boys
Artemas
“a follower of the goddess Artemis”
>99% boys
Orestes
Orestes is a given name from Ancient Greek. It is used in Portuguese.
>99% boys
Pericles
“one who is in excess of glory”
>99% boys
Apostolos
“an apostle; a messenger of God”
>99% boys
Antaeus
>99% boys
Onesimus
“will be useful”
>99% boys
Anastasios
“one who is resurrected”
>99% boys