Ronelle
A given name derived from the German language meaning "counsel defender".
Name Census estimates that about 551 living Americans carry the first name Ronelle. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 89.5% of registrations being female. The average person named Ronelle today is around 52 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ronelle births was 1967 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ronelle. 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
551
~ 1 in 622,059 Americans
Peak year
1967
24 babies that year
Average age
52
years old
2008 SSA rank
#12,263
Tracked since 1941
Gender
Gender distribution for Ronelle
Ronelle leans heavily female at 89.5% of total registrations, but 69 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Ronelle as a male name
- Ranked #12,263 in 2008
- 6 male births in 2008
- Peak: 1978 (8 births)
Ronelle as a female name
- Ranked #19,616 in 2009
- 5 female births in 2009
- Peak: 1967 (24 births)
Popularity
Ronelle: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ronelle from the 1940s through to the 2000s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 153 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ronelle 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 Ronelle during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ronelles live
Origin
Meaning and history of Ronelle
The given name Ronelle is a variant of the French feminine name Renée, which itself is derived from the Late Latin name Renata, meaning "reborn" or "born again." The name Renata can be traced back to the 5th century AD.
The name Ronelle likely emerged as a variant spelling in the late medieval period, possibly influenced by the similar-sounding French names Ronnelle or Ronelle. These names may have their roots in the Gallo-Romance languages spoken in parts of what is now France and Belgium.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ronelle dates back to the 16th century, when it appears in historical records from the region of Picardy in northern France. In these records, a woman named Ronelle de Bouillancourt is mentioned as a landowner in the year 1572.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Ronelle. One of the earliest was Ronelle de Montfort, a French noblewoman who lived in the 13th century and was known for her involvement in the Crusades. Another was Ronelle de Valois, a member of the French royal family who lived in the 15th century.
In the 17th century, Ronelle de Chabannes was a French aristocrat and courtier who served as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Marie de' Medici. Around the same time, Ronelle d'Artagnan was a French military officer who fought in the Thirty Years' War and is said to have been the inspiration for the character of the same name in Alexandre Dumas's novel "The Three Musketeers."
In the 19th century, Ronelle Duval was a French painter and illustrator who gained recognition for her portraits and genre scenes depicting everyday life in Paris.
While the name Ronelle has been used throughout history, it has always been relatively uncommon compared to more popular names of the time. Its origins, however, can be traced back to the Late Latin name Renata, which has its roots in the idea of rebirth or renewal.
People
Ronelle + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ronelle 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
Ronelle: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ronelle?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 551 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ronelle 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 622,059 US residents.
Is Ronelle a common name?
We classify Ronelle as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 657 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ronelle most popular?
The single biggest year for Ronelle was 1967, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ronelle is about 52 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Ronelle a female name?
Yes, 89.5% of people registered as Ronelle in the SSA data are female. 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.