Every Boy Name

Boy's name

Roman

Say it ROH-mun 2 syllables

Latin · “Roman, of Rome”

Loved in Moscow. Common in England and Wales, Ontario, Scotland, and 5 more places. Rare in France, Italy, Poland, and 17 more places.

1 in 192 boys born in England and Wales in 2025. Number 27 there.

Roman in every place

Rank, count and share in all 40 places: loved in 1, common in 8, rare in 20.
Roman in every place we hold figures for
Place Rankyear Boysshare 5 years earlier
British Isles
England and Wales27 (up)20251,4201 in 192282020
Scotland3320251121 in 175332020
Northern Ireland149 (down)2025151 in 5521392020
Ireland179 (down)2025271 in 8791722020
North America
Ontario (province)75 (up)2024159about 1 in 3771252019
Quebec (province)210 (up)202526about 1 in 1,1172402020
British Columbia (province)62 (up)202346about 1 in 283852018
Nova Scotia (province)Not in the published top 212025Not listed2020
Oceania
New South Wales (state)50 (new in the list)2025144Not listed2020
Victoria (state)67 (new in the list)2025105Not listed2020
Queensland (state)97 (new in the list)202563Not listed2020
South Australia (state)Not in the published top 1002025Not listed2020
New Zealand57 (up)202562692020
Western Europe
France333 (down)20251551 in 1,9533102020
Netherlands520 (up)202527about 1 in 2,4646742020
Central Europe
Austria360 (down)2025151 in 2,5382092020
Switzerland280 (down)2025281 in 1,2862482020
Berlin (city)532 (down)20235about 1 in 3,1023072018
Munich (city)Rare: below the complete list2025Not listed2020
Cologne (city)234 (up)20235about 1 in 1,2762462018
Bonn (city)Rare: below the complete list20252422020
Leipzig (city)389 (down)20251about 1 in 2,8762832020
Rostock (city)Rare: below the complete list20251352020
Nordic countries
Norway417 (new in the list)202561 in 3,880Not listed2020
Sweden834 (new in the list)20255about 1 in 8,626Not listed2020
DenmarkNot in the published top 502025Not listed2020
FinlandNot in the published top 502025No list2020
IcelandNot in the published top 102025No list2020
Southern Europe
SpainNot in the published top 1002024Not listed2019
Catalonia (region)288 (up)2025131 in 1,5934552020
Italy774 (new in the list)2024111 in 17,214Not listed2019
Central and Eastern Europe
Poland117 (up)20251301 in 9721222020
HungaryNot in the published top 1002025Not listed2020
SloveniaRare: below the complete list2025Not listed2020
EstoniaNot in the published top 272025Not listed2020
Moscow (city) (published as Роман)9 (up)20251,251112020
CroatiaNot in the published top 502025No list2020
Middle East
TurkeyNot in the published top 302025Not listed2020
IsraelRare: below the complete list20248472019
Latin America
ArgentinaNot in the published top 202024Not listed2019

Germany publishes no national list; the German rows are city registers. Moscow publishes names in Cyrillic script; the original is shown beside the name. About: the publisher leaves out its smallest names, so the share is approximate. ▲ and ▼ compare the rank with five years earlier. Not listed five years earlier: not in that year’s list. No list: the place published no list that year. How these figures are computed.

About the name

Roman means just what it says: "Roman, of Rome". It comes from the Latin Romanus, built on Roma, and reached English through the Old French Romain. It was a given name in continental Europe long before English speakers borrowed it, which they did only recently.

2 more paragraphs

ROH-mun has two syllables and a strong, simple shape. Its European relatives include the French Romain, the Italian Romano, the Portuguese Romão and the Latin Romanus.

In the English-speaking world Roman has become a solid choice, sitting in the top 40 in England and Wales and in Scotland, and it is popular in New South Wales. It is rising in more places than it is falling. It is also used in Poland, Switzerland and Catalonia, and in France it peaked in the early 2000s.

Meaning, origin and how to say it

Say it
ROH-mun · 2 syllables · Stress on beat 1 of 2.
Meaning
“Roman, of Rome”
Origin
Latin
Related names
Romain, Romano, Romanus, Raman, Romão, Romen, Romāns, Romany, Romaan
Where Roman comes from (Wiktionary)

From Latin Romanus (Roma "Rome" + -anus), via Old French Romain. As a given name, recently borrowed into English from continental Europe.

Shortened from the Wiktionary entry for Roman. Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Roman over time

Rising in 7 of the 18 regions we can compare over five years, falling in 2. Peak in France: 2004.

Rank in England and Wales, 1996 to 2025

Roman in England and Wales: #605 in 1996, a peak of #23 in 2021, and #27 in 2025.

#1#10#50#100#300#1,000200020052010201520202025Top 101996: #605, 27 boys1997: #678, 24 boys1998: #689, 24 boys1999: #809, 20 boys2000: #401, 55 boys2001: #460, 45 boys2002: #411, 55 boys2003: #241, 132 boys2004: #188, 211 boys2005: #193, 215 boys2006: #192, 229 boys2007: #236, 181 boys2008: #206, 228 boys2009: #170, 315 boys2010: #195, 270 boys2011: #172, 328 boys2012: #133, 467 boys2013: #133, 448 boys2014: #110, 557 boys2015: #88, 763 boys2016: #92, 737 boys2017: #75, 871 boys2018: #62, 1,018 boys2019: #59, 1,115 boys2020: #28, 1,776 boys2021: #23, 1,923 boys2022: #30, 1,640 boys2023: #32, 1,481 boys2024: #32, 1,454 boys2025: #27, 1,420 boys#605 in 1996peak #23, 2021#27in 2025
Show the numbers
YearRankBoys
199660527
199767824
199868924
199980920
200040155
200146045
200241155
2003241132
2004188211
2005193215
2006192229
2007236181
2008206228
2009170315
2010195270
2011172328
2012133467
2013133448
2014110557
201588763
201692737
201775871
2018621,018
2019591,115
2020281,776
2021231,923
2022301,640
2023321,481
2024321,454
2025271,420

Source: Office for National Statistics (OGL v3)

The long view: in France

Half of the boys named Roman in France since 1925 were born in or after 2006. Peak: 2004, about 106 per 100,000 boys. Babies per 100,000 boys, five-year periods.

1925-1929: 9 per 100,000 boys1930-1934: 10.2 per 100,000 boys1935-1939: 6 per 100,000 boys1940-1944: 4.1 per 100,000 boys19401945-1949: 2.8 per 100,000 boys1950-1954: 2.5 per 100,000 boys1955-1959: 1.4 per 100,000 boys1960-1964: 1.3 per 100,000 boys19601965-1969: 2 per 100,000 boys1970-1974: 3.1 per 100,000 boys1975-1979: 4.4 per 100,000 boys1980-1984: 8.7 per 100,000 boys19801985-1989: 19.4 per 100,000 boys1990-1994: 37.3 per 100,000 boys1995-1999: 53.5 per 100,000 boys2000-2004: 69.4 per 100,000 boys20002005-2009: 93.9 per 100,000 boys2010-2014: 69 per 100,000 boys2015-2019: 57.9 per 100,000 boys2020-2024: 61.5 per 100,000 boys20202025: 51.2 per 100,000 boys20252005-2009: about 1 in 1,065 boys
Show the numbers
YearsPer 100,000 boys
1925–19299
1930–193410.2
1935–19396
1940–19444.1
1945–19492.8
1950–19542.5
1955–19591.4
1960–19641.3
1965–19692
1970–19743.1
1975–19794.4
1980–19848.7
1985–198919.4
1990–199437.3
1995–199953.5
2000–200469.4
2005–200993.9
2010–201469
2015–201957.9
2020–202461.5
202551.2

Source: INSEE, Fichier des prénoms (édition 2025) (Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0). Dark bar: the period holding the median birth year.

Brothers and middle names for Roman

Brother names

Names that rose and fell with Roman, from the same generation, with no clashing sounds.

  1. 1 in 128, Ireland

  2. 1 in 49, Italy

  3. 1 in 62, Poland

  4. 1 in 1,105, England and Wales

  5. 1 in 66, Poland

  6. 1 in 25, Poland

  7. 1 in 418, Scotland

  8. 1 in 103, England and Wales

  9. 1 in 69, Austria

  10. 1 in 159, England and Wales

All 40 brother names for Roman

Middle names

Scored for rhythm against Roman's 2 syllables and for long, steady use.

  1. 1 in 86, England and Wales

  2. 1 in 50, Ireland

  3. 1 in 61, Northern Ireland

  4. 1 in 103, England and Wales

  5. 1 in 130, Scotland

  6. 1 in 62, Poland

  7. 1 in 88, England and Wales

  8. 1 in 137, Scotland

Full-name check

Roman Oliver

Syllables 2-3Initials R.O.No sound clashes between the parts.

All 40 middle names for Roman

Sisters for Roman: Clara, Lucy, Liliana, and 5 more
  1. ClaraRose and fell with Roman · Same generation as Roman
  2. LucyRose and fell with Roman · Same generation as Roman
  3. LilianaRose and fell with Roman · Same generation as Roman
  4. EvaRose and fell with Roman · Same generation as Roman
  5. MaiaRose and fell with Roman · Same generation as Roman
  6. EmiliaRose and fell with Roman · Same generation as Roman
  7. PenelopeRose and fell with Roman · Same generation as Roman
  8. RoseRose and fell with Roman · Same generation as Roman · Same initial as Roman

Girls' names from the same engine, over the girls' lists of the same publishers.

Moved with Roman

The boy names whose popularity rose and fell most like Roman's across every region and decade we hold.

  1. Common in the Netherlands, Ontario, Austria, and 16 more places.

  2. Common in France, England and Wales, Ontario, and 12 more places.

  3. Rare in Poland, Israel, Sweden, and 11 more places.

  4. Common across France, the UK, three Canadian provinces, and 8 more places.

  5. Rare in France, Italy, Poland, and 17 more places.

  6. Loved across the UK, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and 7 more places.

  7. Rare in France, Italy, Poland, and 14 more places.

  8. Common across England and Wales, three Canadian provinces, the Netherlands, and 12 more places.

Famous people named Roman

Roman Herzog, Roman Jakobson, and 6 more

From Wikidata, ranked by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article on them. People: Wikidata (CC0). Links go to Wikipedia in this page's language when an article exists, else English.

Questions about Roman

How popular is Roman in England and Wales?

Roman ranked #27 in England and Wales in 2025, given to 1,420 boys, about 1 in 192.

Is Roman rising in popularity?

In some places: it is rising in more of them than it is falling. Rising in 7 of the 18 regions we can compare over five years, falling in 2. Rising in: Ontario, British Columbia, New Zealand, Norway, Catalonia, and 2 other regions.

What does Roman mean?

Roman means “Roman, of Rome”, according to Wiktionary.

How many syllables does Roman have?

Roman has 2 syllables: ROH-mun.

Every rank and count on this page comes from an official birth register. How these figures are computed.

Meanings, origins and people: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), Wikidata (CC0).

The 42 birth registers behind these figures

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Kept names collect here.

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