Rodney
Feminine · “Unknown”
Rodney is given to boys far more often — 247,150 boys against 1,175 girls since 1880. See Rodney as a boy name
Rodney is an English place name whose first half nobody can explain, and it went into general use because of a naval victory. An admiral of that name broke a French line in the Caribbean at the end of the American war, and boys were being christened after him within a year.
How old is the name Rodney?
Rodney first appears in US birth records in 1918 — 107 years ago. The typical Rodney alive today was born around 1967, making them about 58 years old. About 1,000 people named Rodney are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Rodney most popular?
Rodney peaked in 1966, reaching #1568 nationally. See the whole 1966 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Rodney
The battle was fought off a group of islands between Dominica and Guadeloupe in seventeen eighty-two, and it mattered because the French fleet was on its way to take Jamaica. Rodney's ships cut through the enemy line rather than fighting it broadside to broadside in the usual way, which broke the formation and produced a decisive result instead of the inconclusive draws the tactics of the period generally gave. Whether he intended it or the wind did it for him was argued about for a century. He came home a hero, and the name went into the English and then the American given-name stock, where it stayed for two hundred years without anybody remembering why.
Meaningscholars disagree
Unknown, plus island
The second element is Old English eg, an island or a piece of dry ground in marsh, which is secure. The first is not: a personal name has been suggested and cannot be demonstrated, and the place the surname comes from is a small one in Somerset with an early spelling that does not settle anything. So half the name is legible and half is not.
Pronouncing Rodney
ROD-nee
Two syllables with the stress at the front. The second is a full vowel rather than a reduced one, which is unusual for an English name of this shape and gives it a definite finish.
Nicknames for Rodney
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
- 1918
- Most girls named
- 196651 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1568reached in 1966
- Change vs 1994
- +50.0%9 in 2000, from 6
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.
Rodneys among us
people named Rodney 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
Rodney 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
- Short, firm and completely unambiguous in spelling and sound.
- Rod and Roddy are two short forms in different registers.
- It works for a child of either sex, which the record confirms.
- The record carries it for girls in small numbers, so it is not quite an absolute signal.
- It is strongly dated to the middle of the last century in American ears.
- Half the name has no explanation, so the meaning cannot be given in full.
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Rodney
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Rodneys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Rodney are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Rodney in 2025?
- Rodney is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Rodney with classmates?
- Rodney will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More R names
The most-given names starting with R, all years combined.
Ruth#173 · Rebecca#349 · Rachel#250 · Rose#114 · Ruby#64 · Robin#704 · Rita#1285 · Rhonda#6116
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Rodney? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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