Rhodes
Masculine
Rhodes is given to both — 2,741 boys and 219 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Rhodes began as an English surname for a family who lived by a clearing in the woods, and picked up its silent h from the classical spelling of the Greek island. It is one syllable, hard-edged at both ends, landing like the word "roads" — the same shape as the surname-names that have been moving into first-name territory for a generation now.
How old is the name Rhodes?
Rhodes first appears in US birth records in 1915 — 110 years ago. The typical Rhodes is a kid of about 3 — this name's wave is very recent. About 2,600 people named Rhodes are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Rhodes most popular?
Rhodes peaked in 2025, reaching #575 nationally. Today it ranks #575, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Rhodes appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From Old English rod (clearing) to Rhodes
The story of Rhodes
As a surname, Rhodes was a locative name: it identified a family by where they lived, at the clearing, in the same way Brooks, Fields and Woods did. It is recorded across England, with a particular concentration in the north, where the related Royd names cluster. The island of Rhodes gave the word a second life in English — through the Colossus, one of the wonders of the ancient world, and through centuries of maps and classical schooling. Its use as a first name in America is much newer than either, and the surname-as-first-name pattern is almost certainly what carried it there.
Meaningscholars disagree
Either "clearing in the woodland" or a reference to the Greek island of Rhodes
Two roads lead to the same spelling. The English surname comes from Middle English rode, a clearing made in woodland — the same root behind Rhoades, Rhoads and the northern English Royd names. The other is the Aegean island of Rhodes, whose Greek name Rhodos was linked by ancient writers to rhodon, "rose," though its actual origin has never been settled. The Rh- spelling of the English surname was pulled toward the classical form by scribes who knew their Greek geography.
How the name formed
- Old English rodclearing
- Middle English rode, atte Rode
- Rodes
- Rhodes
Related forms: Ρόδος (Rhodos) · Rhodus · Rodi · Rodas · Rhoades · Rhoads
Pronouncing Rhodes
ROHDZ
One syllable, exactly like the word "roads." The h is silent and does nothing to the sound.
Nicknames for Rhodes
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1915
- Most boys named
- 2025511 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #575reached in 2025
- Change vs 2024
- +9.9%511 in 2025, from 465
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Rhodes in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Ρόδος (Rhodos) in Greek — transliteration
- Rhodus in Latin — related form
- Rodi in Italian — related form
- Rodas in Spanish — related form
- Rhoades in English — spelling variant
- Rhoads in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Georgia.
Rhodess among us
people named Rhodes are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 3,343 born in 2025 was named Rhodes
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Javion test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Rhodes's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Javion climbed just as high around 2008, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Javion's path sketches the road Rhodes is walking now.
Rhodes is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Rhodes is headed
Rhodes is on a steep climb — if the curve holds, 2030 could see around 79% more babies given the name than today.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Rhodes beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Rhodes in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- One syllable with a clean consonant ending — it sits easily in front of longer middle and last names.
- Already familiar to English speakers as a surname and a place name, so nobody has to be taught how to say it.
- Fits the established surname-name pattern alongside Brooks, Banks and Hayes, without being one of the ones you hear constantly.
- A documented English surname going back centuries, so the spelling has a long record behind it rather than a recent invention.
- It is a perfect homophone of "roads," which means the h has to be spelled out most times the name is written down by someone else. Rhoades and Rhoads are common surname spellings that people may default to.
- Cecil Rhodes, the British colonialist, is the most prominent historical bearer of the surname, and the Rhodes Scholarship and the campus debates over his legacy keep the association in circulation. Some families will find that matters; others will not.
- The name's use as a first name is genuinely recent, so a child called Rhodes is unlikely to meet another one, and also unlikely to meet an adult who shares it. That is a fair trade to weigh either way.
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What they receive
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Rhodes
Masculine · #575 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Rhodess are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,600 people named Rhodes are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Rhodes in 2025?
- Rhodes ranks #575 among US boy names in 2025, with 511 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Rhodes?
- About 1 in every 3,343 US boys born in 2025 was named Rhodes — 511 in all.
- Will my child share the name Rhodes with classmates?
- Rhodes will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Rhodes
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Emanuel#574 · Jamari#576 · Clay#573 · Jamie#577 · Johan#572 · Kylan#578 · Allen#578 · Enrique#571
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Rhodes? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Rhodes and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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