Ronson
A name potentially derived from 'Ronald', meaning "ruler's counselor".
Name Census estimates that about 329 living Americans carry the first name Ronson. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ronson today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ronson births was 1989 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ronson. 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 Ronson with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
329
~ 1 in 1,041,806 Americans
Peak year
1989
14 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2017 SSA rank
#13,853
Tracked since 1949
Census
Ronson in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 374 people with the first name Ronson, which placed it at #25,370 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
#25,370
National first-name rank
People counted
374
374 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
33.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ronson
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ronson is White at 33.4%. The next largest groups are Black (25.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (19.5%). 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 Ronson 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 Ronson at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White33.4% · 125
- Black or African American25.7% · 96
- Asian and Pacific Islander19.5% · 73
- Two or more races11.8% · 44
- Hispanic or Latino6.4% · 24
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.2% · 12
Popularity
Ronson: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ronson from the 1940s through to the 2010s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 101 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ronson 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 Ronson during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ronsons live
Origin
Meaning and history of Ronson
The name Ronson is believed to have originated from the Old English word "rún," meaning "secret" or "mystery," and the suffix "-son," which was commonly used to denote someone's son or descendant. This name likely emerged in the Anglo-Saxon period, between the 5th and 11th centuries AD, in regions that are now part of England.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ronson can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of land ownership in England conducted in 1086 by order of William the Conqueror. The name appears as "Runessune," which is thought to be an early spelling variation of Ronson.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Ronson was relatively rare but can be found in various historical records and documents from different regions of England. One notable individual with this name was Ronson of Gloucester, a 12th-century monk and chronicler who wrote a detailed account of the life and miracles of St. Wulstan, the Bishop of Worcester.
In the 16th century, the name Ronson gained some prominence with the birth of Ronson Woodville (1510-1555), an English courtier and soldier who served under King Henry VIII and played a significant role in the English Reformation. Woodville was also a member of the influential Woodville family, which had close ties to the Tudor dynasty.
Another notable figure with the name Ronson was Sir Ronson Cavendish (1592-1659), an English politician and landowner who served as a member of parliament during the English Civil War. Cavendish was a staunch Royalist and fought for King Charles I against the Parliamentarian forces.
In the 18th century, the name Ronson was associated with Ronson Maitland (1723-1786), a Scottish naval officer and explorer who played a significant role in the exploration of the Pacific Ocean and the discovery of several islands in the region. Maitland's voyages and contributions to cartography and navigation were widely recognized during his lifetime.
The name Ronson remained relatively uncommon throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, but it gained some recognition with individuals such as Ronson Griffiths (1867-1934), a Welsh writer and journalist known for his literary works and contributions to Welsh culture and literature.
While not an exhaustive list, these examples provide insight into the historical presence and significance of the name Ronson across various periods and regions, showcasing its enduring legacy as a given name with roots in the Old English language.
People
Ronson + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ronson 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
Ronson: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ronson?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 329 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ronson 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 1,041,806 US residents.
Is Ronson a common name?
We classify Ronson as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 349 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ronson most popular?
The single biggest year for Ronson was 1989, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ronson is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ronson in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 374 people with the name Ronson, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,370 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 Ronson 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 Ronson?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ronson leans strongly male. 370 people counted with this name were male (98.7%), compared with 5 female bearers (1.3%). 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 Ronson?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ronson is White at 33.4%. The next largest groups are Black (25.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (19.5%). 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 Ronson most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ronson in the 2020 Census, accounting for 33.4% (125 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 Ronson in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ronson a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ronson 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 Ronson still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ronson 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 Ronson 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 common is the name Ronson?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Ronson at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.