Boys' name · peaked in 1897
Roy name popularity since 1925
311,048 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Roy (0.6% girls, 99.4% boys). Half of them were born in 1950 or earlier, so the typical Roy is about 76 years old in 2026. Roy peaked in 1897 as the #19 name for boys, and it ranked #525 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 311,048
- Named Roy, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1897
- #19 for boys that year
- In 2025
- #525
- for boys in 2025 (570 babies)
- Girls / boys
- 99.4% boys
- 1,957 girls · 309,091 boys
- Most popular in
- Arkansas
- 2.38× its national share
Peak year is the year Roy made up the largest share of US boys, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Roy births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year on this chart was 1947. Measured as a share of all babies, Roy peaked earlier, in 1897.
- Steepest fall: Between 1990 and 1995, Roy's share of baby boys fell by 36%, from 1 in 1,670 to 1 in 2,600.
Shaded on the chart. This compares Roy's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Roy.
Decade by decade
Babies named Roy in each decade, and its rank among boys' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 291 | 31,028 | – |
| 1930s | 381 | 51,495 | #40 |
| 1940s | 359 | 65,648 | #40 |
| 1950s | 335 | 61,847 | #58 |
| 1960s | 261 | 40,047 | #95 |
| 1970s | 171 | 22,353 | #122 |
| 1980s | 147 | 14,308 | #186 |
| 1990s | 0 | 8,601 | #336 |
| 2000s | 0 | 5,581 | #471 |
| 2010s | 7 | 5,017 | #533 |
| 2020–25 | 5 | 3,166 | #525 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
36.6% of babies named Roy from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Baby Boom years (1946–1964). The full split by generation:
Where Roy is most popular
The index compares Roy's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Roy.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Arkansas | 2.38× | 7,620 |
| West Virginia | 2.38× | 6,509 |
| Hawaii | 2.37× | 2,301 |
| Kentucky | 2.10× | 10,919 |
| Oklahoma | 2.07× | 8,373 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 499 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Roy's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Roy.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Roy (1897).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data