Ronald
Ronald was given to 438 boys in 2025, #638 among boys’ names; 1,086,091 Americans have been recorded with it since 1883 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 637,000 Americans named Ronald and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (59% of everyone recorded); the median is 67 years old and half are between 56 and 76.
Ronald is the #37 most common first name among living American men and boys, by this estimate.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Ronald by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Ronald mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Ronald is “a male given name from the Germanic languages.” Its etymology gives the senses “advice” (rǫgn) and “power” (valdr).
Anglicized from Scottish Gaelic Raghnall, itself derived from Old Norse Rǫgnvaldr, from rǫgn (“advice”) + valdr (“power”), later partly merged with the Continental Germanic equivalent Reynold.
/ˈɹɑ.nəld/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Ronald?
#638 among boys’ names, 2025
Ronald fell from #435 in 2015 to #638 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 0.37 to 0.26 per 1,000.
34,972 babies in 1947, the peak
Ronald peaked in 1947, when 34,972 babies were given it (34,899 boys, #11 among boys’ names). The 438 births of 2025 are 1% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 438 | #638 | 0.26 |
| 2024 | 497 | #575 | 0.29 |
| 2023 | 457 | #613 | 0.27 |
| 2022 | 532 | #559 | 0.30 |
| 2021 | 505 | #562 | 0.29 |
| 2020 | 503 | #559 | 0.29 |
| 2019 | 541 | #527 | 0.30 |
| 2018 | 588 | #491 | 0.32 |
| 2017 | 660 | #462 | 0.36 |
| 2016 | 728 | #429 | 0.38 |
Every recorded year (142)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 704 | #435 | 0.37 |
| 2014 | 791 | #394 | 0.41 |
| 2013 | 745 | #402 | 0.39 |
| 2012 | 797 | #378 | 0.42 |
| 2011 | 889 | #342 | 0.47 |
| 2010 | 913 | #343 | 0.48 |
| 2009 | 926 | #341 | 0.47 |
| 2008 | 1,089 | #307 | 0.53 |
| 2007 | 1,175 | #293 | 0.57 |
| 2006 | 1,374 | #249 | 0.67 |
| 2005 | 1,302 | #255 | 0.65 |
| 2004 | 1,450 | #232 | 0.73 |
| 2003 | 1,406 | #237 | 0.71 |
| 2002 | 1,521 | #227 | 0.78 |
| 2001 | 1,652 | #212 | 0.85 |
| 2000 | 1,750 | #203 | 0.89 |
| 1999 | 1,872 | #186 | 1.0 |
| 1998 | 1,847 | #182 | 1.0 |
| 1997 | 2,096 | #164 | 1.1 |
| 1996 | 2,229 | #156 | 1.2 |
| 1995 | 2,400 | #146 | 1.3 |
| 1994 | 2,564 | #137 | 1.3 |
| 1993 | 2,882 | #122 | 1.5 |
| 1992 | 3,222 | #112 | 1.6 |
| 1991 | 3,670 | #101 | 1.8 |
| 1990 | 3,899 | #97 | 1.9 |
| 1989 | 4,110 | #85 | 2.1 |
| 1988 | 4,173 | #79 | 2.2 |
| 1987 | 4,153 | #73 | 2.2 |
| 1986 | 4,224 | #75 | 2.3 |
| 1985 | 4,299 | #71 | 2.3 |
| 1984 | 4,507 | #67 | 2.5 |
| 1983 | 4,702 | #64 | 2.6 |
| 1982 | 5,207 | #60 | 2.9 |
| 1981 | 5,538 | #59 | 3.1 |
| 1980 | 5,757 | #58 | 3.2 |
| 1979 | 5,694 | #54 | 3.3 |
| 1978 | 5,758 | #55 | 3.5 |
| 1977 | 6,026 | #53 | 3.7 |
| 1976 | 6,457 | #49 | 4.1 |
| 1975 | 7,064 | #46 | 4.5 |
| 1974 | 7,667 | #42 | 4.9 |
| 1973 | 8,327 | #40 | 5.3 |
| 1972 | 9,502 | #32 | 5.9 |
| 1971 | 11,617 | #31 | 6.6 |
| 1970 | 13,618 | #29 | 7.3 |
| 1969 | 14,618 | #29 | 8.2 |
| 1968 | 15,415 | #25 | 8.9 |
| 1967 | 16,443 | #24 | 9.4 |
| 1966 | 16,952 | #24 | 9.5 |
| 1965 | 17,619 | #24 | 9.5 |
| 1964 | 18,844 | #24 | 9.5 |
| 1963 | 19,780 | #23 | 9.7 |
| 1962 | 19,963 | #25 | 9.6 |
| 1961 | 20,842 | #24 | 9.8 |
| 1960 | 21,714 | #21 | 10.2 |
| 1959 | 23,114 | #21 | 10.8 |
| 1958 | 24,824 | #19 | 11.7 |
| 1957 | 27,209 | #17 | 12.6 |
| 1956 | 27,725 | #15 | 13.1 |
| 1955 | 26,172 | #18 | 12.7 |
| 1954 | 27,625 | #15 | 13.5 |
| 1953 | 27,713 | #15 | 14.1 |
| 1952 | 27,800 | #15 | 14.3 |
| 1951 | 29,049 | #12 | 15.4 |
| 1950 | 29,908 | #12 | 16.7 |
| 1949 | 31,502 | #11 | 17.8 |
| 1948 | 33,527 | #10 | 19.1 |
| 1947 | 34,899 | #11 | 19.1 |
| 1946 | 31,858 | #10 | 19.6 |
| 1945 | 23,665 | #10 | 17.6 |
| 1944 | 25,513 | #10 | 18.7 |
| 1943 | 29,239 | #9 | 20.5 |
| 1942 | 27,138 | #9 | 19.6 |
| 1941 | 24,407 | #9 | 19.9 |
| 1940 | 20,741 | #10 | 17.9 |
| 1939 | 19,837 | #10 | 17.9 |
| 1938 | 20,295 | #10 | 18.3 |
| 1937 | 18,141 | #11 | 17.0 |
| 1936 | 16,917 | #12 | 16.3 |
| 1935 | 15,489 | #12 | 14.9 |
| 1934 | 14,088 | #11 | 13.6 |
| 1933 | 12,061 | #12 | 12.2 |
| 1932 | 11,143 | #16 | 10.7 |
| 1931 | 6,726 | #27 | 6.5 |
| 1930 | 5,635 | #37 | 5.1 |
| 1929 | 4,479 | #45 | 4.2 |
| 1928 | 3,969 | #50 | 3.6 |
| 1927 | 3,115 | #63 | 2.8 |
| 1926 | 2,283 | #88 | 2.1 |
| 1925 | 1,674 | #104 | 1.5 |
| 1924 | 1,360 | #130 | 1.2 |
| 1923 | 1,148 | #142 | 1.0 |
| 1922 | 1,042 | #147 | 1.0 |
| 1921 | 992 | #154 | 0.90 |
| 1920 | 832 | #168 | 0.78 |
| 1919 | 784 | #171 | 0.80 |
| 1918 | 751 | #176 | 0.74 |
| 1917 | 766 | #165 | 0.83 |
| 1916 | 723 | #167 | 0.81 |
| 1915 | 763 | #155 | 0.90 |
| 1914 | 541 | #163 | 0.83 |
| 1913 | 417 | #167 | 0.81 |
| 1912 | 302 | #191 | 0.70 |
| 1911 | 136 | #218 | 0.60 |
| 1910 | 118 | #215 | 0.61 |
| 1909 | 93 | #225 | 0.57 |
| 1908 | 75 | #247 | 0.49 |
| 1907 | 88 | #218 | 0.60 |
| 1906 | 76 | #226 | 0.57 |
| 1905 | 51 | #279 | 0.39 |
| 1904 | 50 | #271 | 0.39 |
| 1903 | 52 | #254 | 0.44 |
| 1902 | 49 | #271 | 0.40 |
| 1901 | 42 | #266 | 0.39 |
| 1900 | 40 | #348 | 0.27 |
| 1899 | 27 | #352 | 0.25 |
| 1898 | 26 | #388 | 0.21 |
| 1897 | 34 | #319 | 0.30 |
| 1896 | 23 | #416 | 0.19 |
| 1895 | 25 | #389 | 0.21 |
| 1894 | 21 | #415 | 0.18 |
| 1893 | 8 | #818 | 0.07 |
| 1892 | 17 | #493 | 0.14 |
| 1891 | 8 | #754 | 0.08 |
| 1890 | 20 | #411 | 0.18 |
| 1889 | 10 | #663 | 0.09 |
| 1888 | 15 | #521 | 0.12 |
| 1887 | 8 | #735 | 0.08 |
| 1886 | 13 | #534 | 0.12 |
| 1884 | 11 | #601 | 0.10 |
| 1883 | 6 | #867 | 0.06 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Ronald a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Ronald has been given almost only to boys: 3,844 girls in 142 years of records.
Girls and boys named Ronald: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Ronald, and how old are they?
637,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 59% of the 1,086,091 Americans ever recorded as Ronald. The median Ronald alive today is 67 years old; half are between 56 and 76.
The 2020 Census counted 689,843 people named Ronald (598 women and girls, 689,245 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 739,285 born in the U.S. The Census count is 7% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 76,200 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 325,000 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 147,000 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 58,900 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 21,700 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 7,630 |
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 Ronald born?
The states with the most babies named Ronald are New York, California and Pennsylvania, with 23% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 84,973 | #684 | 0.9× |
| California | 84,858 | #697 | 1.0× |
| Pennsylvania | 83,360 | #474 | 1.2× |
| Ohio | 70,516 | #532 | 1.2× |
| Illinois | 70,509 | #701 | 1.2× |
| Michigan | 60,415 | #439 | 1.3× |
| Texas | 41,448 | #910 | 0.6× |
| Indiana | 32,920 | #659 | 1.1× |
| New Jersey | 30,154 | #394 | 0.9× |
| Missouri | 28,933 | #548 | 1.1× |
Where Ronald is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Ronald is most over-represented in Michigan: since 1910 it was given 1.3 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 Ronald 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 3 names spelled alike, given to 1,087,679 babies since 1880, Ronald is the most given (100% of them). In 2025 it was given to 438 of their 438 babies (100%), 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 Ronald
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 Ronald and names like it
- Compare Ronald and RonoldBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1940sRonald peaked in 1947.
- New York’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Ronald since 1910.
- Germanic namesWiktionary’s origin for Ronald: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1947The year the most babies were named Ronald.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Ronald alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with RMost given first.