Rolin
A masculine German name of uncertain origin, possibly related to rowland "renown land".
Name Census estimates that about 171 living Americans carry the first name Rolin. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Rolin today is around 48 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rolin births was 1923 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rolin. 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
171
~ 1 in 2,004,411 Americans
Peak year
1923
11 babies that year
Average age
48
years old
2021 SSA rank
#13,688
Tracked since 1919
Census
Rolin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 394 people with the first name Rolin, which placed it at #24,446 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
#24,446
National first-name rank
People counted
394
394 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
47.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rolin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rolin is White at 47.2%. The next largest groups are Black (23.4%) and Hispanic (17.5%). 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 Rolin 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 Rolin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White47.2% · 186
- Black or African American23.4% · 92
- Hispanic or Latino17.5% · 69
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.4% · 29
- Two or more races3.0% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 6
Popularity
Rolin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rolin from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 50 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
Rolin 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 Rolin 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 Rolin
The given name Rolin has its origins in the Germanic languages, specifically from the Old German and Old English words "rod" and "lind," which translate to "famous" and "tender" or "soft," respectively. This combination suggests that Rolin may have originally meant "famous for being tender or soft."
During the medieval period, the name was found predominantly in regions of present-day Germany and England, where it was used as a masculine name. It is believed that the name gained popularity in these areas due to the influence of Germanic tribes and their cultural traditions.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Rolin can be found in the Codex Traditionum Westfalicarum, a 9th-century manuscript from the Carolingian Empire. The document mentions a nobleman named Rolin, who was a landholder in the region of Westphalia, in present-day Germany.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Rolin. One of the most prominent was Rolin Kerr (1753-1844), a Scottish-born American soldier who fought in the American Revolutionary War and later served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Another notable figure was Rolin Jones (1829-1905), an American politician and businessman from Ohio who served as the 34th Governor of Arkansas from 1893 to 1897. He played a significant role in the development of the state's infrastructure and educational system.
In the world of literature, Rolin Milbanke (1788-1825) was an English poet and the husband of Lord Byron's wife, Annabella Milbanke. His poetic works, though not widely acclaimed, provide insights into the literary circles of 19th-century England.
The name Rolin also has a connection to the arts, with Rolin Stafford-Deitsch (1912-1986) being a notable American sculptor and artist known for his abstract and modernist works. His sculptures can be found in various public spaces and museums across the United States.
Another individual of historical significance was Rolin C. Mallory (1784-1831), an American lawyer and politician from Ohio who served as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives and later as a judge in the state's Supreme Court.
People
Rolin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rolin 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
Rolin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rolin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 171 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rolin 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 2,004,411 US residents.
Is Rolin a common name?
We classify Rolin as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 261 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rolin most popular?
The single biggest year for Rolin was 1923, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rolin is about 48 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rolin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 394 people with the name Rolin, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,446 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 Rolin 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 Rolin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rolin leans strongly male. 374 people counted with this name were male (94.7%), compared with 21 female bearers (5.3%). 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 Rolin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rolin is White at 47.2%. The next largest groups are Black (23.4%) and Hispanic (17.5%). 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 Rolin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Rolin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.2% (186 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 Rolin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rolin a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rolin 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 Rolin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rolin 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 Rolin 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 Americans are named Rolin?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.