Rogan
A masculine name of Irish origin meaning "descendent of the redhead".
Name Census estimates that about 2,347 living Americans carry the first name Rogan. It is a predominantly male name (94.3% of registrations). The average person named Rogan today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rogan births was 2020 (166 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rogan. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Rogan with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Rogan is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 13 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.3K
~ 1 in 146,039 Americans
Peak year
2020
166 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,179
Tracked since 1970
Census
Rogan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,780 people with the first name Rogan, which placed it at #8,195 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
#8,195
National first-name rank
People counted
1.8K
1,780 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
82.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rogan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rogan is White at 82.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.6%) and Two or More Races (6.2%). 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 Rogan 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 Rogan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.2% · 1,463
- Hispanic or Latino6.6% · 117
- Two or more races6.2% · 111
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 38
- Black or African American1.9% · 34
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 17
Gender
Gender distribution for Rogan
Rogan leans heavily male at 94.3% of total registrations, but 135 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Rogan as a male name
- Ranked #2,179 in 2024
- 67 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2020 (155 births)
Rogan as a female name
- Ranked #14,875 in 2024
- 6 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2012 (13 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rogan leans strongly male. 1,657 people counted with this name were male (93.0%), compared with 124 female bearers (7.0%).
Popularity
Rogan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rogan from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,082 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Rogan remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rogan 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 Rogan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rogans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 25 states and territories. California, Texas, Ohio recorded the most babies named Rogan, while Virginia, Tennessee, Nebraska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 32 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rogan
The name Rogan is an anglicized form of the Irish Gaelic name Rógan, which is believed to have originated in the 5th or 6th century CE. The name is derived from the Old Irish word róg, meaning "choice" or "famous." This suggests that the name Rogan may have been given to children with the hope that they would grow up to be distinguished or renowned individuals.
In ancient Irish mythology, Rogan was the name of a minor character who appeared in the Ulster Cycle of tales. He was mentioned as a warrior who fought alongside the legendary hero Cú Chulainn. While not a central figure, his inclusion in these stories indicates that the name was in use during the era when the myths were first recorded, likely between the 8th and 11th centuries.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Rogan was Rogan mac Rothráin, an Irish king who ruled over the Uí Failge territory (modern-day County Offaly) in the 7th century. Another notable bearer of the name was Rogan of Moville (died 637 CE), an Irish monk and saint who founded the monastery of Moville in County Down.
In the 12th century, Rogan was the name of a Scottish clergyman who served as the Bishop of Ross from 1161 to 1162. During the same period, a man named Rogan of Howth (died 1188) was a prominent Anglo-Norman landowner and military leader in Ireland.
Fast-forwarding to the 17th century, Rogan O'Muldoon (1611-1685) was an Irish soldier who fought in the Confederate Wars and later served as a colonel in the Spanish army. In the 18th century, Rogan Magranill (1703-1779) was a Scottish-Irish architect and artist who designed several notable buildings in Dublin.
These are just a few examples of the historical figures who have borne the name Rogan over the centuries. While not as common as some other Irish names, it has a long and distinguished history, with roots stretching back to the early medieval period and the ancient myths and legends of Ireland.
People
Rogan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rogan 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
Rogan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rogan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,347 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rogan 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 146,039 US residents.
Is Rogan a common name?
We classify Rogan as "Rare". It ranks above 94.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,370 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rogan most popular?
The single biggest year for Rogan was 2020, when 166 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rogan is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rogan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,780 people with the name Rogan, or 0.59 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,195 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 Rogan 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 Rogan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rogan leans strongly male. 1,657 people counted with this name were male (93.0%), compared with 124 female bearers (7.0%). 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 Rogan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rogan is White at 82.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.6%) and Two or More Races (6.2%). 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 Rogan most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Rogan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.2% (1,463 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 Rogan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rogan a male name?
Yes, 94.3% of people registered as Rogan 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 Rogan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rogan 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 Rogan 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 Rogan as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Rogan on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.