Roger

What Roger means

Means “fame-spear”

From Old French Rogier, from the Frankish equivalent of Old English Hrōþgār (see Hroðgar), from Proto-Germanic *Hrōþigaizaz (“fame-spear”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Roger” (revision 94543030), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Roger?

US: Falling: down from #579 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #2150 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1945, when 10,571 boys got the name (#22 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 5,751 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 30,215 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in NV (0.44 per 1,000 boys), OR (0.4 per 1,000 boys), PA (0.33 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Roger is #832 in the US and #2440 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Roger were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Ruger111 US
• Rodger18 US
• Ridger8 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Roger

Boys

• Jeffrey#552Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #552 vs #1,705 in 2025
• Robert#92“shining glory”^*
• Frank#513Form of Francis, meaning “Frankish (man); a Frank”^*
• Richard#234“king, ruler + hard, brave”^*
• Dustin#728possibly “Thor s stone”^*
• Ronald#637“advice + power”^*

For a sister

• Linda#902“tender, soft”^*
• Alicia#460Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1984, with 7,820 babies; 672 in 2025
• Anne#619Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1959, with 5,745 babies; 472 in 2025
• Alison#476“of noble kind”^*
• Allison#103Form of Elon, meaning “oak tree”^*
• Alyssa#453“a plant of the genus Alyssum”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Germanic, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Roger’s. Rank is US 2025.