# Ronald (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/ronald/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | Scottish Gaelic |
| Meaning | “advice”, “power” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈɹɑ.nəld/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | Ron, Ronnie, Ronny |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 1,086,091 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 1,082,247 / 3,844 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 1,112, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Anglicized from Scottish Gaelic Raghnall, itself derived from Old Norse Rǫgnvaldr, from rǫgn (“advice”) + valdr (“power”), later partly merged with the Continental Germanic equivalent Reynold.

## What it means

Ronald is grouped under strong.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 42 | 2,365 |
| 1982 | 44 | 2,277 |
| 1983 | 38 | 2,466 |
| 1984 | 46 | 2,179 |
| 1985 | 33 | 2,845 |
| 1986 | 44 | 2,329 |
| 1987 | 30 | 3,147 |
| 1988 | 38 | 2,784 |
| 1989 | 20 | 4,637 |
| 1990 | 15 | 6,066 |
| 1991 | 10 | 8,451 |
| 1992 | 12 | 7,412 |
| 1993 | 9 | 9,351 |
| 1994 | 6 | 13,046 |
| 1999 | 5 | 16,335 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 889 | 342 |
| 2012 | 797 | 378 |
| 2013 | 745 | 402 |
| 2014 | 791 | 394 |
| 2015 | 704 | 435 |
| 2016 | 728 | 429 |
| 2017 | 660 | 462 |
| 2018 | 588 | 491 |
| 2019 | 541 | 527 |
| 2020 | 503 | 559 |
| 2021 | 505 | 562 |
| 2022 | 532 | 559 |
| 2023 | 457 | 613 |
| 2024 | 497 | 575 |
| 2025 | 438 | 638 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 34 | 852 |
| 2012 | 28 | 998 |
| 2013 | 41 | 771 |
| 2014 | 38 | 805 |
| 2015 | 42 | 765 |
| 2016 | 45 | 748 |
| 2017 | 51 | 684 |
| 2018 | 66 | 564 |
| 2019 | 56 | 634 |
| 2020 | 51 | 668 |
| 2021 | 67 | 569 |
| 2022 | 51 | 670 |
| 2023 | 50 | 691 |
| 2024 | 42 | 796 |
| 2025 | 59 | 627 |

## In other languages

- Arabic: رُونَالْد, رُونَالْد
- Catalan: Reginald, Reinald
- Chinese: 羅納德 /罗纳德, 羅納爾德 /罗纳尔德
- Danish: Ronald
- Esperanto: Ronaldo
- French: Ronald
- Georgian: რონალდი
- German: Ronald
- Greek: Ρονάλδος
- Hebrew: רונלד
- Hindi: रोनाल्ड
- Italian: Ronaldo
- Japanese: ロナルド
- Korean: 로널드
- Latvian: Ronalds
- Norwegian: Ronald
- Portuguese: Ronaldo, Reinaldo
- Russian: Ро́нальд
- Spanish: Reynaldo, Reinaldo
- Swedish: Ronald

## People named Ronald

- Ronald Reagan, 40th President of the United States (1981–1989)
- Ronald Ross, British doctor, Nobel laureate, writer, and artist (1857–1932)
- Ronald Koeman, Dutch football coach and former football player (born 1963)
- Ronald Coase, British economist and Nobel laureate (1910–2013)
- Ronald Fisher, British statistician, evolutionary biologist and geneticist (1890–1962)
- Ronald Golias, Brazilian actor and comedian (1929–2005)
- Ronald George Wreyford Norrish, British chemist
- Ronald Colman, British actor (1891–1958)
- Ronald de Boer, Dutch association football player (born 1970)
- Ronald Dworkin, American legal philosopher (1931-2013)
- Ronald McNair, American physicist, astronaut (1950-1986)
- Ronald Lauder, American businessman, art collector, philanthropist, political activist

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.