Randol
A masculine English name derived from the Old Norse word "rand" meaning "shield rim".
Name Census estimates that about 426 living Americans carry the first name Randol. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Randol today is around 60 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Randol births was 1956 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Randol. 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
426
~ 1 in 804,588 Americans
Peak year
1956
23 babies that year
Average age
60
years old
2006 SSA rank
#11,715
Tracked since 1920
Census
Randol in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 621 people with the first name Randol, which placed it at #17,644 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#17,644
National first-name rank
People counted
621
621 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
66.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Randol
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Randol is White at 66.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (21.9%) and Black (6.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Randol described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Randol at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White66.5% · 413
- Hispanic or Latino21.9% · 136
- Black or African American6.9% · 43
- Two or more races3.1% · 19
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 4
Popularity
Randol: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Randol from the 1920s through to the 2000s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 192 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Randol 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 Randol during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Randols live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Missouri, Texas recorded the most babies named Randol, while Texas, Missouri, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 5 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Randol
The name Randol has its origins in the medieval Latin name Randulfus, which was derived from the Germanic elements "rand" meaning "rim" and "wulf" meaning "wolf." The name was popular throughout Europe during the Middle Ages, particularly in England and France.
Randol was a common name among the Anglo-Saxons and Normans, and it is believed to have been introduced to Britain during the Norman Conquest of 1066. One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name was Randol de Meschines, a Norman nobleman who fought alongside William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings.
In the 12th century, the name Randol appeared in the writings of the English chronicler William of Malmesbury, who mentioned a nobleman named Randol de Gernon. The name also appeared in various legal documents and charters from the medieval period, indicating its widespread use among the aristocracy and landed gentry.
Several notable historical figures bore the name Randol, including Randol de Blundeville, who served as Earl of Chester and Lord of Cheshire in the late 12th century. Another notable bearer of the name was Randol de Neville, a powerful English baron who played a significant role in the Barons' War against King John in the early 13th century.
In the 14th century, the name Randol was borne by the English knight Randol de Mohun, who fought in the Hundred Years' War against France. He was captured at the Battle of Poitiers in 1356 and held for ransom.
During the Renaissance period, the name Randol was associated with the Italian humanist scholar Randol Vio, better known as Cardinal Cajetan, who lived from 1469 to 1534. He was a prominent theologian and philosopher who played a significant role in the early stages of the Protestant Reformation.
While the name Randol has fallen out of widespread use in modern times, it has left a lasting impact on various derivative names, such as Randall, Randolph, and Randal, which continue to be popular in many English-speaking countries.
People
Randol + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Randol as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Randol: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Randol?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 426 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Randol 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 804,588 US residents.
Is Randol a common name?
We classify Randol as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 572 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Randol most popular?
The single biggest year for Randol was 1956, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Randol is about 60 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Randol in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 621 people with the name Randol, or 0.21 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,644 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Randol in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Randol?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Randol leans strongly male. 615 people counted with this name were male (98.9%), compared with 7 female bearers (1.1%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Randol?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Randol is White at 66.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (21.9%) and Black (6.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Randol most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Randol in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.5% (413 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Randol in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Randol a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Randol 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.
Is Randol still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Randol in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Randol can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many people share the name Randol?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.