Roque
A masculine given name of Spanish origin meaning "rock".
Name Census estimates that about 2,169 living Americans carry the first name Roque. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Roque today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Roque births was 2004 (54 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Roque. 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 Roque with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.2K
~ 1 in 158,024 Americans
Peak year
2004
54 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,392
Tracked since 1915
Census
Roque in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,540 people with the first name Roque, which placed it at #4,200 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
#4,200
National first-name rank
People counted
4.5K
4,540 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
86.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Roque
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Roque is Hispanic at 86.7%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (7.3%) and White (4.2%). 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 Roque 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 Roque at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino86.7% · 3,936
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.3% · 332
- White4.2% · 192
- Two or more races0.8% · 35
- Black or African American0.7% · 31
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 14
Popularity
Roque: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Roque from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 401 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Roque 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 Roque during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Roques live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. Texas, California, Arizona recorded the most babies named Roque, while Washington, New Mexico, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 178 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Roque
The given name Roque originates from the Spanish language and it is believed to have derived from the Latin word "rocca," meaning a rock or fortress. The name first gained popularity in the Iberian Peninsula during the medieval period, particularly in Spain and Portugal.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Roque can be traced back to the 13th century, where it was mentioned in historical documents from the Kingdom of Aragon. During this time, the name was often associated with individuals who lived near rocky terrains or fortified settlements.
In the 16th century, the name Roque gained further prominence with the Catholic saint, St. Roque, also known as St. Rocco or St. Roch. Born in Montpellier, France, around the year 1295, St. Roque dedicated his life to caring for those afflicted by the Black Plague. His legend and miracles contributed to the widespread adoption of the name across Catholic communities.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have carried the name Roque. One of the earliest was Roque de Sese, a Spanish nobleman and military leader who participated in the Reconquista against the Moors in the 13th century. In the 15th century, Roque de Valero was a renowned Spanish painter known for his religious artworks.
During the 16th century, Roque de Figueroa, a Spanish conquistador, played a significant role in the conquest of Chile. In the 17th century, Roque González de Santa Cruz was a Spanish-Peruvian writer and historian who documented the history of the Inca Empire.
Fast-forwarding to the 19th century, Roque Sáenz Peña, an Argentine lawyer and politician, served as the President of Argentina from 1910 to 1914. His presidency was marked by significant political reforms, including the establishment of universal male suffrage.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who have carried the name Roque, which has its roots in the Latin word "rocca" and gained prominence in the Iberian Peninsula, particularly in Spain and Portugal, during the medieval period.
People
Roque + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Roque 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
Roque: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Roque?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,169 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Roque 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 158,024 US residents.
Is Roque a common name?
We classify Roque as "Rare". It ranks above 94% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,568 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Roque most popular?
The single biggest year for Roque was 2004, when 54 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Roque is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Roque in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,540 people with the name Roque, or 1.50 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,200 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 Roque 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 Roque?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Roque leans strongly male. 4,477 people counted with this name were male (98.7%), compared with 59 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 Roque?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Roque is Hispanic at 86.7%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (7.3%) and White (4.2%). 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 Roque most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Roque in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.7% (3,936 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 Roque in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Roque a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Roque 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 Roque still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Roque 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 Roque 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 Roque?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.