Fitzroy
Son of the king's tenant farmer; a Norman French name.
Name Census estimates that about 177 living Americans carry the first name Fitzroy. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Fitzroy today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Fitzroy births was 1989 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Fitzroy. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
177
~ 1 in 1,936,465 Americans
Peak year
1989
15 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2022 SSA rank
#12,961
Tracked since 1964
Popularity
Fitzroy: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Fitzroy from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 66 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Fitzroy by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Fitzroy during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Fitzroys live
Origin
Meaning and history of Fitzroy
The name Fitzroy is an Anglo-Norman name that first appeared in the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old French words "fils" meaning son, and "roi" meaning king, essentially translating to "son of the king". This name originally indicated a person's status as the illegitimate son of a monarch.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name Fitzroy was Henry Fitzroy, the illegitimate son of King Henry VIII of England and his mistress Elizabeth Blount. Henry Fitzroy was born in 1519 and was granted the title of Duke of Richmond and Somerset. He died at a young age in 1536.
Another notable Fitzroy was Robert Fitzroy, an English naval officer and meteorologist born in 1805. He captained HMS Beagle during Charles Darwin's famous voyage that led to his theory of evolution. Fitzroy later became the chief officer at the Meteorological Office and helped develop the first weather forecasting system.
In the 19th century, there was also a British colonial governor named Sir Charles Augustus Fitzroy, who served as the Governor of New South Wales in Australia from 1846 to 1855. He played a significant role in the development of the colony during his tenure.
Moving back in history, there was a Norman nobleman named Robert Fitzroy who lived in the 11th century. He was the illegitimate son of King Henry I of England and was granted lands in Northamptonshire.
Another notable figure with the name Fitzroy was Augustus Henry Fitzroy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, who lived from 1735 to 1811. He served as the Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1768 to 1770 and was also a prominent patron of the arts.
While the name Fitzroy has a rich historical background, it is not as commonly used as a first name today. However, it remains a part of the English naming tradition and serves as a reminder of the complex social structures and relationships of the past.
People
Fitzroy + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Fitzroy as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with F
Other first names starting with F with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Fitzroy: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Fitzroy?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 177 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Fitzroy going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,936,465 US residents.
Is Fitzroy a common name?
We classify Fitzroy as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 184 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Fitzroy most popular?
The single biggest year for Fitzroy was 1989, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Fitzroy is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Fitzroy a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Fitzroy in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.