Romulo
A masculine name of Latin origin referring to Rome or its legendary founder.
Name Census estimates that about 685 living Americans carry the first name Romulo. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Romulo today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Romulo births was 1993 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Romulo. 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
685
~ 1 in 500,371 Americans
Peak year
1993
18 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,666
Tracked since 1912
Popularity
Romulo: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Romulo from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 122 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1970s peak, Romulo remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Romulo 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 Romulo during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Romulos live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Texas, California, New York recorded the most babies named Romulo, while New York, California, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 55 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Romulo
The name Romulo is of Latin origin, derived from the ancient Roman name Romulus. The name Romulus is believed to be rooted in the Etruscan word "rumon," which means "teat" or "breast," possibly referring to the legendary story of Romulus and his twin brother Remus being nursed by a she-wolf as infants.
The name Romulus is most famously associated with the legendary founder and first king of Rome, Romulus, who, according to Roman mythology, founded the city of Rome in 753 BCE along with his twin brother Remus. The legend has been depicted in various ancient texts and works of literature, including Livy's "Ab Urbe Condita" and Virgil's "Aeneid."
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Romulo can be found in the works of ancient Roman historians and writers, such as Plutarch and Suetonius, who documented the lives of prominent Romans. The name Romulo was also used by several Roman emperors and noble families throughout the Roman Empire.
Some notable individuals with the name Romulo throughout history include Romulo Gallegos (1884-1969), a Venezuelan novelist and politician who served as the President of Venezuela from 1948 to 1949. Another famous bearer of the name was Romulo O'Farrill (1917-2006), a Mexican-American musician and bandleader known for his contributions to Latin jazz.
In the 20th century, Romulo Betancourt (1908-1981) was a Venezuelan politician who served as the President of Venezuela from 1959 to 1964. Romulo Díaz de la Vega (1801-1877) was a Mexican general and politician who played a significant role in the Mexican-American War and the Reform War in Mexico.
Romulo Naón (1875-1941) was an Argentine diplomat and politician who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Argentina and played a crucial role in the establishment of the League of Nations. These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have carried the name Romulo throughout history.
People
Romulo + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Romulo 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
Romulo: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Romulo?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 685 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Romulo 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 500,371 US residents.
Is Romulo a common name?
We classify Romulo as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 834 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Romulo most popular?
The single biggest year for Romulo was 1993, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Romulo is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Romulo a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Romulo 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.