Rod
A masculine name possibly deriving from the Germanic word "rod" meaning "famous".
Name Census estimates that about 6,927 living Americans carry the first name Rod. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Rod today is around 61 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rod births was 1960 (495 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rod. 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
6.9K
~ 1 in 49,481 Americans
Peak year
1960
495 babies that year
Average age
61
years old
2023 SSA rank
#10,573
Tracked since 1910
Popularity
Rod: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rod from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 3,745 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
Rod 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 Rod during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rods live
The SSA's state-level files cover 39 states and territories. California, Ohio, Michigan recorded the most babies named Rod, while West Virginia, North Dakota, Arkansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 153 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rod
The name Rod is a masculine given name derived from the Old English word "rod," which means "a slim shoot or branch." It has its origins in the Anglo-Saxon culture that thrived in England during the 5th to 11th centuries.
The name's earliest known use dates back to the 12th century, as evidenced by records from the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of land ownership in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. This document mentions individuals bearing the name Rodbert and Roderic, which are believed to be early variations of the name Rod.
One of the earliest documented instances of the name Rod can be found in the writings of the 12th-century English historian, William of Malmesbury, who mentioned a figure named Rod de Walpole in his work "Gesta Regum Anglorum" (Deeds of the English Kings).
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Rod. One of the earliest was Rod of Alcala, a 15th-century Spanish friar and missionary who was canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church in 1888. Another prominent figure was Rod Paterson (1917-1992), an Australian rules football player and coach who was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame.
In the world of sports, Rod Laver (born 1938) is a legendary Australian tennis player who achieved the calendar Grand Slam in 1962 and 1969, winning all four major championships in the same year. Rod Carew (born 1945) is a former Major League Baseball player and a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, known for his exceptional batting skills.
In the realm of entertainment, Rod Serling (1924-1975) was an American screenwriter, playwright, and television producer, best known for creating and narrating the iconic science fiction anthology series "The Twilight Zone." Rod Stewart (born 1945) is a British rock singer and songwriter, renowned for his distinctive raspy voice and hits like "Maggie May" and "Tonight's the Night."
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who have borne the name Rod, a name with roots in the Anglo-Saxon culture and a long-standing presence in the English-speaking world.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Rod
People
Rod + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rod 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
Rod: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rod?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6,927 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rod 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 49,481 US residents.
Is Rod a common name?
We classify Rod as "Rare". It ranks above 97.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 8,744 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rod most popular?
The single biggest year for Rod was 1960, when 495 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rod is about 61 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Rod a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rod 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.