Rod
Masculine · “famous ruler”
Rod is Roderick shortened, and the Germanic behind it is famous ruler — the name of the last Visigothic king of Spain, who lost his kingdom to an invading army in 711.
How old is the name Rod?
Rod first appears in US birth records in 1910 — 115 years ago. The typical Rod alive today was born around 1961, making them about 64 years old. About 6,700 people named Rod are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Rod most popular?
Rod peaked in 1965, reaching #344 nationally. See the whole 1965 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From hrod ric to Rod
The story of Rod
Roderic was the last Visigothic king of Spain, defeated in 711, and his name survived in Spanish as Rodrigo and passed into English through Scott's 1811 poem The Vision of Don Roderick. Rod was the ordinary English clipping, registered outright by American families from the 1930s, and peaked around 1959.
Meaning
famous ruler
Through Roderick, from the Germanic hrod, 'fame', and ric, 'ruler' or 'power'. Both elements are ordinary and the compound is transparent. The Spanish Rodrigo and the surname Rodriguez descend from the same name, which is why it is so common in Spanish records.
How the name formed
- hrod ric
- Roderick
- Rod
Related forms: Rodrigo · Rodney · Roderich
Pronouncing Rod
ROD
One syllable. It is a homophone of the ordinary English noun.
Nicknames for Rod
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
- 1910
- Most boys named
- 1965494 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #344reached in 1965
- Change vs 2016
- −36.4%7 in 2023, from 11
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.
Rod in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Rodrigo in Spanish — related form
- Rodney in English — related form
- Roderich in German — related form
Rods among us
people named Rod are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Rod sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- The famous-ruler meaning is transparent and undisputed.
- Roderick and Rodrigo are available as full formal versions.
- Three letters, one syllable, and never misheard.
- It is a homophone of an ordinary English noun.
- Given outright it stays informal; Roderick on the certificate keeps both registers.
- It is closely dated to the middle of the twentieth century.
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Rod
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Rods are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 6,700 people named Rod are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Rod in 2025?
- Rod is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Rod with classmates?
- Rod will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More R names
The most-given names starting with R, all years combined.
Robert#92 · Richard#234 · Ronald#637 · Ryan#99 · Raymond#394 · Roger#832 · Ralph#1046 · Roy#525
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Rod? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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