boy's name
Roman
ROH-mun
- Origin Latin
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 2
- Letters 5
- Popularity Top 100 (US)
- Births on record 139,480
the United States
#42
2025 births
Roman is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "citizen of Rome," from Romanus. It spread through Eastern and Central Europe as a Christian name via several saints, and is a long-established given name across Russian, Polish, and Ukrainian tradition.
- Roman is a name of Latin origin.
- Peaked in 2025, when 6,185 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 536 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1882.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Roman over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s 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 |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 76 |
| 1890s | 135 |
| 1900s | 265 |
| 1910s | 1,794 |
| 1920s | 2,352 |
| 1930s | 1,289 |
| 1940s | 1,115 |
| 1950s | 1,646 |
| 1960s | 1,797 |
| 1970s | 3,377 |
| 1980s | 3,982 |
| 1990s | 6,822 |
| 2000s | 14,774 |
| 2010s | 35,282 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 30,425 |
What Roman means
Roman means a Roman — a person of the city or the empire. It is an ethnic or civic descriptor rather than a virtue name, of the same type as Norman, meaning northman, or Francis, originally meaning Frenchman.
Where Roman comes from
Roman comes from the Latin Romanus, meaning of Rome. It circulated in the late Roman and Byzantine world as a personal name and was carried into Slavic-speaking Europe by Christian missionaries, becoming firmly established in Russian, Polish, Ukrainian, and Czech naming traditions. Several saints named Romanus reinforced its use, and Byzantine emperors bore the Greek form Romanos. Names of this type — describing where a person is from rather than what they are like — are a recognized category that also produced Norman, Francis, and Scott. Roman has grown considerably in English-speaking countries in recent decades.
How popular is Roman?
In 2025, Roman was given to 6,185 babies in the United States, ranking #42 that year. It is one of the most popular names in the United States.
Where Roman 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.
How Roman is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Romàn | Romàn is a rare spelling of Roman, written with a grave accent and recorded about 95 times, mostly in France. | 95 |
Names that peaked alongside Roman
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Roman also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Roman over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Roman
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Roman 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 Roman
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Roman — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Roman
What does the name Roman mean?
Roman means "citizen of Rome," from the Latin Romanus.
Is Roman a Slavic name?
It is Latin in origin but became firmly established in Russian, Polish, Ukrainian, and Czech tradition.
Are there other names like Roman?
Norman, Francis, and Scott are formed the same way, describing where a person came from.
How popular is the name Roman?
In 2025, Roman was given to 6,185 babies in the United States, ranking #42 that year. It is one of the most popular names in the United States.
Is Roman a girl's or a boy's name?
Roman is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
How many syllables are in Roman?
Roman has 2 syllables.
When was Roman most popular?
Roman peaked in 2025, when 6,185 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
What are the nicknames for Roman?
Roman is usually shortened to Ro.
Is Roman a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Roman currently ranks #27 in the United States. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.