Roland
Roland was given to 466 boys in 2025, #608 among boys’ names; 101,191 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 44,900 Americans named Roland and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (44% of everyone recorded); the median is 58 years old and half are between 33 and 72.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Roland by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Roland mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Roland is “a male given name from the Germanic languages.” Its etymology gives the sense “fame-land” (literally).
From Old French, from Frankish *Hrōþiland (literally “fame-land”). Name of a paladin of Charlemagne in medieval French romance. Doublet of Orlando.
/ˈɹoʊlənd/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Roland?
#608 among boys’ names, 2025
Roland fell from #588 in 2015 to #608 in 2025 among boys’ names, although its share of boys born rose from 0.25 to 0.27 per 1,000.
1,834 babies in 1924, the peak
Roland peaked in 1924, when 1,834 babies were given it (1,822 boys, #98 among boys’ names). The 466 births of 2025 are 25% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 466 | #608 | 0.27 |
| 2024 | 413 | #664 | 0.24 |
| 2023 | 414 | #662 | 0.24 |
| 2022 | 461 | #609 | 0.26 |
| 2021 | 405 | #668 | 0.23 |
| 2020 | 490 | #570 | 0.28 |
| 2019 | 538 | #532 | 0.30 |
| 2018 | 514 | #545 | 0.28 |
| 2017 | 534 | #530 | 0.29 |
| 2016 | 510 | #562 | 0.27 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 471 | #588 | 0.25 |
| 2014 | 438 | #610 | 0.23 |
| 2013 | 360 | #670 | 0.19 |
| 2012 | 313 | #741 | 0.17 |
| 2011 | 302 | #751 | 0.16 |
| 2010 | 290 | #771 | 0.15 |
| 2009 | 304 | #753 | 0.15 |
| 2008 | 296 | #754 | 0.15 |
| 2007 | 301 | #745 | 0.15 |
| 2006 | 265 | #783 | 0.13 |
| 2005 | 277 | #732 | 0.14 |
| 2004 | 236 | #772 | 0.12 |
| 2003 | 249 | #733 | 0.13 |
| 2002 | 238 | #736 | 0.12 |
| 2001 | 242 | #724 | 0.12 |
| 2000 | 257 | #689 | 0.13 |
| 1999 | 255 | #667 | 0.13 |
| 1998 | 252 | #678 | 0.13 |
| 1997 | 254 | #648 | 0.13 |
| 1996 | 315 | #579 | 0.17 |
| 1995 | 286 | #605 | 0.15 |
| 1994 | 324 | #570 | 0.17 |
| 1993 | 332 | #558 | 0.17 |
| 1992 | 358 | #536 | 0.18 |
| 1991 | 359 | #535 | 0.18 |
| 1990 | 379 | #506 | 0.18 |
| 1989 | 405 | #470 | 0.20 |
| 1988 | 435 | #432 | 0.23 |
| 1987 | 408 | #439 | 0.22 |
| 1986 | 379 | #445 | 0.21 |
| 1985 | 413 | #421 | 0.22 |
| 1984 | 432 | #395 | 0.24 |
| 1983 | 404 | #406 | 0.23 |
| 1982 | 421 | #403 | 0.23 |
| 1981 | 455 | #379 | 0.25 |
| 1980 | 478 | #365 | 0.27 |
| 1979 | 466 | #371 | 0.27 |
| 1978 | 485 | #348 | 0.30 |
| 1977 | 472 | #363 | 0.29 |
| 1976 | 512 | #337 | 0.33 |
| 1975 | 513 | #338 | 0.33 |
| 1974 | 517 | #338 | 0.33 |
| 1973 | 561 | #313 | 0.36 |
| 1972 | 579 | #317 | 0.36 |
| 1971 | 640 | #306 | 0.36 |
| 1970 | 739 | #286 | 0.40 |
| 1969 | 770 | #269 | 0.43 |
| 1968 | 799 | #253 | 0.46 |
| 1967 | 800 | #250 | 0.46 |
| 1966 | 880 | #238 | 0.49 |
| 1965 | 933 | #244 | 0.50 |
| 1964 | 1,087 | #227 | 0.55 |
| 1963 | 1,069 | #230 | 0.53 |
| 1962 | 1,073 | #235 | 0.52 |
| 1961 | 1,132 | #236 | 0.53 |
| 1960 | 1,138 | #240 | 0.53 |
| 1959 | 1,159 | #236 | 0.54 |
| 1958 | 1,106 | #234 | 0.52 |
| 1957 | 1,210 | #216 | 0.56 |
| 1956 | 1,223 | #212 | 0.58 |
| 1955 | 1,267 | #202 | 0.62 |
| 1954 | 1,322 | #193 | 0.65 |
| 1953 | 1,281 | #191 | 0.65 |
| 1952 | 1,273 | #187 | 0.65 |
| 1951 | 1,295 | #184 | 0.69 |
| 1950 | 1,193 | #187 | 0.67 |
| 1949 | 1,221 | #175 | 0.69 |
| 1948 | 1,333 | #170 | 0.76 |
| 1947 | 1,434 | #166 | 0.78 |
| 1946 | 1,264 | #166 | 0.78 |
| 1945 | 1,184 | #158 | 0.88 |
| 1944 | 1,268 | #155 | 0.93 |
| 1943 | 1,384 | #150 | 1.0 |
| 1942 | 1,452 | #143 | 1.1 |
| 1941 | 1,286 | #144 | 1.0 |
| 1940 | 1,267 | #141 | 1.1 |
| 1939 | 1,329 | #131 | 1.2 |
| 1938 | 1,431 | #124 | 1.3 |
| 1937 | 1,317 | #126 | 1.2 |
| 1936 | 1,490 | #118 | 1.4 |
| 1935 | 1,486 | #119 | 1.4 |
| 1934 | 1,445 | #119 | 1.4 |
| 1933 | 1,474 | #114 | 1.5 |
| 1932 | 1,611 | #111 | 1.5 |
| 1931 | 1,697 | #107 | 1.6 |
| 1930 | 1,721 | #107 | 1.6 |
| 1929 | 1,730 | #104 | 1.6 |
| 1928 | 1,779 | #107 | 1.6 |
| 1927 | 1,713 | #109 | 1.5 |
| 1926 | 1,702 | #107 | 1.5 |
| 1925 | 1,785 | #98 | 1.6 |
| 1924 | 1,822 | #98 | 1.6 |
| 1923 | 1,678 | #104 | 1.5 |
| 1922 | 1,539 | #115 | 1.4 |
| 1921 | 1,630 | #107 | 1.5 |
| 1920 | 1,501 | #114 | 1.4 |
| 1919 | 1,355 | #119 | 1.4 |
| 1918 | 1,385 | #121 | 1.4 |
| 1917 | 1,285 | #117 | 1.4 |
| 1916 | 1,201 | #118 | 1.3 |
| 1915 | 1,137 | #118 | 1.3 |
| 1914 | 882 | #121 | 1.3 |
| 1913 | 611 | #128 | 1.2 |
| 1912 | 522 | #127 | 1.2 |
| 1911 | 230 | #147 | 1.0 |
| 1910 | 191 | #163 | 1.0 |
| 1909 | 153 | #163 | 0.93 |
| 1908 | 156 | #151 | 1.0 |
| 1907 | 132 | #165 | 0.90 |
| 1906 | 125 | #157 | 0.94 |
| 1905 | 143 | #147 | 1.1 |
| 1904 | 139 | #142 | 1.1 |
| 1903 | 107 | #162 | 0.90 |
| 1902 | 115 | #153 | 0.94 |
| 1901 | 113 | #145 | 1.1 |
| 1900 | 133 | #157 | 0.88 |
| 1899 | 101 | #152 | 1.0 |
| 1898 | 97 | #168 | 0.79 |
| 1897 | 92 | #170 | 0.82 |
| 1896 | 92 | #177 | 0.77 |
| 1895 | 97 | #161 | 0.83 |
| 1894 | 88 | #172 | 0.76 |
| 1893 | 91 | #161 | 0.81 |
| 1892 | 80 | #193 | 0.66 |
| 1891 | 69 | #185 | 0.68 |
| 1890 | 68 | #198 | 0.61 |
| 1889 | 60 | #216 | 0.54 |
| 1888 | 49 | #251 | 0.41 |
| 1887 | 49 | #226 | 0.48 |
| 1886 | 55 | #230 | 0.50 |
| 1885 | 48 | #239 | 0.45 |
| 1884 | 43 | #263 | 0.38 |
| 1883 | 36 | #278 | 0.34 |
| 1882 | 38 | #281 | 0.33 |
| 1881 | 30 | #293 | 0.30 |
| 1880 | 36 | #281 | 0.33 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Roland a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Roland has been given almost only to boys: 362 girls in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Roland: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Roland, and how old are they?
44,900 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 44% of the 101,191 Americans ever recorded as Roland. The median Roland alive today is 58 years old; half are between 33 and 72.
The 2020 Census counted 51,667 people named Roland (131 women and girls, 51,536 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 49,373 born in the U.S. The Census count is 5% above that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 4,750 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 15,100 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 8,930 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 5,810 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 4,260 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 5,970 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Roland born?
The states with the most babies named Roland are Texas, Massachusetts and California, with 22% of its births recorded by state since 1910; Massachusetts is not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 8,751 | #620 | 1.4× |
| Massachusetts | 6,208 | #878 | 2.0× |
| California | 5,983 | #696 | 0.9× |
| New York | 5,637 | #879 | 0.7× |
| Louisiana | 4,093 | #751 | 2.1× |
| Pennsylvania | 3,870 | #543 | 0.6× |
| Illinois | 3,674 | #481 | 0.7× |
| Ohio | 3,320 | #619 | 0.7× |
| Maine | 3,246 | #198 | 5.1× |
| Michigan | 3,179 | #479 | 0.8× |
Where Roland is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Roland is most over-represented in Maine: since 1910 it was given 5.1 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Roland with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 2 names spelled alike, given to 111,064 babies since 1880, Roland is the most given (91% of them). In 2025 it was given to 466 of their 482 babies (97%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Roland
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Roland and names like it
- Compare Roland and RollandBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1920sRoland peaked in 1924.
- Texas’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Roland since 1910.
- Germanic namesWiktionary’s origin for Roland: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1924The year the most babies were named Roland.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Roland alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with RMost given first.