Rhon
A poetic English word for a small stream or river.
Name Census estimates that about 31 living Americans carry the first name Rhon. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Rhon today is around 58 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rhon births was 1968 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rhon. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Rhon. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
31
~ 1 in 11,056,592 Americans
Peak year
1968
8 babies that year
Average age
58
years old
1993 SSA rank
#9,863
Tracked since 1957
Census
Rhon in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 155 people with the first name Rhon, which placed it at #44,540 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
#44,540
National first-name rank
People counted
155
155 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
43.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rhon
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rhon is White at 43.9%. The next largest groups are Black (35.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (11.6%). 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 Rhon 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 Rhon at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White43.9% · 68
- Black or African American35.5% · 55
- Asian and Pacific Islander11.6% · 18
- Hispanic or Latino4.5% · 7
- Two or more races4.5% · 7
Popularity
Rhon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rhon from the 1950s through to the 1990s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 25 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rhon 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 Rhon during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rhon
The name Rhon has its origins in ancient Celtic languages spoken across parts of Europe during the Iron Age. It is believed to be derived from the Proto-Celtic root *rēno, which means "river" or "stream". This root word likely referred to the many rivers and waterways that crisscrossed the lands inhabited by Celtic tribes.
In its earliest recorded form, the name was spelled as "Rēnos" or "Rēnus" in ancient Celtic inscriptions and texts. Over time, as the languages evolved and spread, variations emerged, such as "Rhēn" in Gaulish and "Rēnos" in Brittonic Celtic languages.
One of the earliest known references to the name can be found in the writings of the ancient Greek geographer Strabo, who mentioned a Gaulish chieftain named Rēnos in his work "Geographica" from around 7 BC. This suggests that the name was in use among the Celtic populations of what is now modern-day France during the late Roman Republic period.
In the Middle Ages, the name continued to be used across Europe, particularly in areas with strong Celtic cultural influences. One notable figure was Rhon ap Gruffydd, a Welsh prince who lived in the 12th century and was a descendant of the ancient Welsh royal line.
Another historical figure with the name was Rhon of Argyll, a Scottish nobleman and warrior who played a significant role in the Wars of Scottish Independence against England in the early 14th century. He was a close ally of Robert the Bruce and fought alongside him at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.
In the 16th century, Rhon Fychan was a renowned Welsh poet and member of one of the most prestigious bardic families of the time. His works, written in the traditional Welsh poetic forms, have been preserved and studied by scholars for their literary and cultural significance.
During the 17th century, Rhon MacGregor was a Scottish clan chief and military leader who fought for the Royalist cause during the English Civil War. He led his clan's forces in several battles against the Parliamentarian armies, earning a reputation as a fierce and loyal warrior.
These examples illustrate the long history and cultural significance of the name Rhon, which has been borne by individuals from various Celtic regions and backgrounds, including Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, over many centuries.
People
Rhon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rhon 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
Rhon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rhon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 31 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rhon 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 11,056,592 US residents.
Is Rhon a common name?
We classify Rhon as "Very Rare". It ranks above 47% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 36 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rhon most popular?
The single biggest year for Rhon was 1968, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rhon is about 58 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rhon in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 155 people with the name Rhon, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #44,540 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 Rhon 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 Rhon?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rhon leans strongly male. 141 people counted with this name were male (90.4%), compared with 15 female bearers (9.6%). 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 Rhon?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rhon is White at 43.9%. The next largest groups are Black (35.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (11.6%). 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 Rhon most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Rhon in the 2020 Census, accounting for 43.9% (68 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 Rhon in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rhon a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rhon 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 Rhon still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rhon 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 Rhon 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 have the name Rhon?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Rhon, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.