Rory
A masculine name of Irish origin meaning "red king" or "famous landowner".
Name Census estimates that about 43,805 living Americans carry the first name Rory. It sits at #226 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 73.6% of registrations being male. The average person named Rory today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rory births was 2024 (2,696 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rory. 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
44K
~ 1 in 7,825 Americans
Peak year
2024
2,696 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2024 SSA rank
#226
Tracked since 1933
Gender
Gender distribution for Rory
Rory is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 46,310 total registrations, 34,067 (73.6%) were male and 12,243 (26.4%) were female.
Rory as a male name
- Ranked #226 in 2024
- 1,594 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (1,594 births)
Rory as a female name
- Ranked #286 in 2024
- 1,102 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (1,102 births)
Popularity
Rory: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rory from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 11,014 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rory 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 Rory during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rorys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Rory, while Wyoming, Vermont, Alaska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 787 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rory
The name Rory is of Irish Gaelic origin, derived from the old Irish word "Ruaidhrí" or "Ruaidhri," which means "red king" or "king of the red people." This name has been in use since ancient times in Ireland and Scotland.
The name is believed to have originated in the 6th century CE when it was first recorded as the name of an Irish king, Rory O'Conor, who ruled from 1166 to 1198 CE. He was the last High King of Ireland before the Norman invasion.
In ancient Irish mythology, Rory is also the name of a legendary hero and warrior who was said to have fought against the invading Milesians. This mythological figure is mentioned in several Irish folktales and legends.
The earliest recorded use of the name Rory can be found in the Annals of Ulster, a chronicle of medieval Irish history, where it appears as the name of several Irish kings and noblemen from the 6th to the 12th centuries.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals named Rory, including Rory O'More (c. 1620–1655), an Irish rebel leader who fought against the English during the Irish Confederate Wars; Rory Gallagher (1948–1995), an Irish blues and rock musician; and Rory McIlroy (born 1989), a professional golfer from Northern Ireland who has won several major championships.
Other famous individuals with the name Rory include Rory Bremner (born 1961), a Scottish comedian and impressionist; Rory Cochrane (born 1972), an American actor known for his roles in films like "Dazed and Confused" and "Empire Records"; and Rory Underwood (born 1963), a former English rugby union player.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Rory
People
Rory + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rory 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
Rory: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rory?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 43,805 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rory 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 7,825 US residents.
Is Rory a common name?
We classify Rory as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 46,310 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rory most popular?
The single biggest year for Rory was 2024, when 2,696 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rory is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Rory a male name?
Yes, 73.6% of people registered as Rory 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.