boy's name
Randy
RAN-dee
- Origin Germanic
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 2
- Letters 5
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 338,694
Randy is a boy's name, the short form of Randall or Randolph, meaning shield-wolf. Parents outside America should know it is common slang in British and Irish English for sexually aroused, which is why it barely charts there.
- Randy is a name of Germanic origin.
- Peaked in 1956, when 16,740 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 16,744 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1915.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Randy over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1910s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1910s | 24 |
| 1920s | 102 |
| 1930s | 543 |
| 1940s | 14,906 |
| 1950s | 122,475 |
| 1960s | 94,949 |
| 1970s | 37,034 |
| 1980s | 29,935 |
| 1990s | 16,971 |
| 2000s | 10,436 |
| 2010s | 5,650 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 1,447 |
What Randy means
Randy means shield-wolf, carried from Randolph. The Germanic joins a word for the rim of a shield to one meaning wolf, so both halves belong to the vocabulary of war.
Where Randy comes from
Randy is clipped from Randolph or Randall, both from the Germanic Randwulf — rand, the rim of a shield, joined to wulf, a wolf. Wolf names were common across early Germanic naming, and the shield element appears in Randal and Ranulf too. Separately and unrelatedly, randy has been an adjective in British and Irish English since the eighteenth century, originally meaning rude or boisterous and now meaning sexually aroused; its origin is uncertain and may be Scots. The two words have no connection, but the coincidence is the reason the name is effectively unusable across most of the English-speaking world outside North America.
Randy in use
Randy peaked in the United States in 1956, when 16,740 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It now charts in only three of the seven markets we track — 1088th in the United States on 198 births, 2051st in Canada and 2865th in France — across 338,694 lifetime births. It does not chart in Britain or Ireland at all, which is a striking absence for an English-language name of this size and is straightforwardly explained by the slang.
How popular is Randy?
In 2025, Randy was given to 198 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Randy is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Randy
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Randy also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Randy over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Randy in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Randy
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Randy — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Randy
What does the name Randy mean?
Shield-wolf, carried from Randolph — the Germanic rand, shield rim, joined to wulf.
Is Randy a rude word in Britain?
Randy is common British and Irish slang for sexually aroused. The word and the name are unrelated, but the name does not chart in either market.
Is Randy short for Randall?
For Randall or Randolph — both come from the same Germanic source.
How popular is Randy?
1088th in the United States. It does not chart in Britain or Ireland at all.
Is Randy a girl's or a boy's name?
Randy is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
How many syllables are in Randy?
Randy has 2 syllables.
Is Randy a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Randy currently ranks #1,088 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.