The present article deals with the propagation of Rayleigh surface waves in a homogeneous orthotropic medium based on Eringen’s nonlocal thermoelasticity. This thermoelastic problem is studied under the purview of Green–Naghdi model type III of hyperbolic thermoelasticity in the presence of voids. The normal mode analysis is employed to obtain a vector matrix differential equation which is then solved by an eigenvalue approach. The frequency equations for different cases are derived. The path of surface particles during Rayleigh wave propagation is found to be elliptical. In order to illustrate the analytical developments, the numerical solution is carried out and the computer-simulated results with respect to phase velocity, attenuation coefficient and specific loss are presented graphically.