# Roy (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/roy/  
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 | “king”, “ruler”, “red”, “red-haired” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈɹoɪ̯/, 1 syllable |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 411,331 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 408,638 / 2,693 (1% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 889, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From various sources: * Anglo-Norman roy (“king”) a variant of Old French roi, from Latin rēx, rēgem from Proto-Indo-European *h₃rḗǵs (“ruler, king”). Doublet of Rey. * Scottish Gaelic ruadh (“red, red-haired”) from Old Irish rúad, from Proto-Celtic *roudos from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewdʰ-. * Anglicisation of Bengali রায় (raẏ, surname). Doublet of Rai, rex, and rajah.

## What it means

Roy is grouped under king and red.

## 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 1977 | 26 | 3,058 |
| 1978 | 17 | 4,210 |
| 1979 | 16 | 4,572 |
| 1980 | 22 | 3,695 |
| 1981 | 14 | 5,183 |
| 1982 | 11 | 6,267 |
| 1983 | 16 | 4,640 |
| 1984 | 18 | 4,283 |
| 1985 | 17 | 4,603 |
| 1986 | 10 | 7,004 |
| 1987 | 17 | 4,830 |
| 1988 | 11 | 7,015 |
| 1989 | 11 | 7,341 |
| 2015 | 7 | 14,222 |
| 2022 | 5 | 17,298 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 443 | 566 |
| 2012 | 466 | 559 |
| 2013 | 508 | 524 |
| 2014 | 525 | 531 |
| 2015 | 534 | 533 |
| 2016 | 539 | 540 |
| 2017 | 531 | 533 |
| 2018 | 520 | 541 |
| 2019 | 494 | 565 |
| 2020 | 487 | 572 |
| 2021 | 521 | 551 |
| 2022 | 509 | 576 |
| 2023 | 526 | 556 |
| 2024 | 553 | 541 |
| 2025 | 570 | 525 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 22 | 1,158 |
| 2012 | 20 | 1,270 |
| 2013 | 17 | 1,404 |
| 2014 | 27 | 1,035 |
| 2015 | 28 | 1,024 |
| 2016 | 23 | 1,187 |
| 2017 | 39 | 818 |
| 2018 | 24 | 1,132 |
| 2019 | 27 | 1,030 |
| 2020 | 23 | 1,150 |
| 2021 | 33 | 907 |
| 2022 | 37 | 844 |
| 2023 | 32 | 942 |
| 2024 | 41 | 800 |
| 2025 | 48 | 728 |

## People named Roy

- Roy J. Glauber, American theoretical physicist (1925–2018)
- Ben Roy Mottelson, Danish-American nuclear physicist (1926–2022)
- Roy Orbison, American musician (1936 –1988)
- Roy Lichtenstein, American pop artist (1923–1997)
- Roy Scheider, American actor (1932–2008)
- Roy Hodgson, English football manager
- Roy Makaay, Dutch footballer (born 1975)
- George Roy Hill, American film director (1921–2002)
- Roy Jones Jr., American boxer, rapper and actor
- Roy Emerson, Australian tennis player
- Roy Rogers, American actor and singer (1911-1998)
- Roy Smith, Costa Rican association football player

## 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.