Rory

What Rory means

Means “red-haired king”

Anglicized form of Scottish Gaelic Ruairidh and Irish Ruairí (“red-haired king”), from Old Irish Ruaidrí (“red king”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Rory” (revision 88547779), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Rory?

US: Rising: up from #379 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #74 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2025, when 1,768 boys got the name (#199 that year). First in the US records in 1933.

How common

• About 1 in 966 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 155 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 65 baby boys in Scotland 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 MA (3.92 per 1,000 boys), ME (3.12 per 1,000 boys), NH (3.11 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Rory is #199 in the US and #17 in England & Wales (2025).

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

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 57.0% of US babies named Rory 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

• Rorey11 US
• Rori0 US · 5 E&W
• Roary0 US · 5 E&W

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 Rory

Boys

• Harvey#251“iron + blazing”^*
• Ellis#243“benevolent, kind”^*
• Idris#694Editor’s note More popular in England & Wales than the US: #142 vs #694 in 2025
• Killian#417Editor’s note Down from #349 in 2015 to #417 in 2025 in the US
• Alistair#897“to defend + man”^*
• Callum#118Variant of Calum, meaning “dove”^*

For a sister

• Winifred#922Editor’s note Up from #1,437 in 2015 to #922 in 2025 in the US
• Blaire#384Variant of Blair, meaning “field, plain”^*
• Gwendolyn#360Variant of Gwendolen, meaning “white, fair, blessed + ring, bow…^*
• Guinevere#898Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #898 vs #2,788 in 2025
• Ellis#682“benevolent, kind”^*
• Maeve#76“intoxicating”^*

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