He was the son of Vasily Petrovich Orlov, the ataman of the Don Cossacks, and grandson (on his mother's side) of the first Cossack count, Fyodor Petrovich Denisov.

In honour of his grandfather, he added his surname to his own, becoming Orlov-Denisov on 26 April 1801.

Tolstoy has said the similarity in names was a mistake on his part, arising from the "specially typical character" of Orlov-Denisov.

He insisted that "nothing resembling the actual facts of [Orlov-Denisov's] life is ascribed to [Vas'ka Denisov] in the novel.

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