Romaine
Masculine · “Roman”
Romaine is given to both — 990 boys and 3,136 girls since 1880. See Romaine as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Romaine is the word Roman turned into a name, and it only became a name once being Roman had stopped being ordinary. Nobody in Rome was called Romanus while Rome ran the world; the name appears in the provinces afterwards, among people for whom Roman meant something worth claiming.
How old is the name Romaine?
Romaine first appears in US birth records in 1912 — 113 years ago. The typical Romaine alive today was born around 1964, making them about 61 years old. About 600 people named Romaine are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Romaine most popular?
Romaine peaked in 1932, reaching #1509 nationally. Today it ranks #8910, 7,401 places below that high. See the whole 1932 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Romanus to Romaine
The story of Romaine
The lettuce carries the same word, and by an odd road. What English calls romaine, the French call laitue romaine, the Roman lettuce, because it reached France from Italy — and specifically, in the story usually told, from the papal gardens at Avignon. The English also call it cos, after the Greek island of Kos, which is where the Italians say it came from. Two nations, two different guesses about the origin of one vegetable, and both preserved in the names. The personal name has no connection to the salad except the word they share.
Meaning
Roman
The Latin Romanus is simply the adjective. It became a personal name in late antiquity, was carried by several saints, and passed into French as Romain and its feminine Romaine.
How the name formed
- Romanus
- Romain
- Romaine
Related forms: Romain · Romano · Roman · Roman
Pronouncing Romaine
roh-MAYN
Two syllables with the weight at the back. French says roh-MEN with a nasal ending, and the American reading follows the lettuce rather than the French.
Nicknames for Romaine
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
- 1912
- Most boys named
- 193222 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1509reached in 1932
- Change vs 2021
- +33.3%8 in 2025, 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.
Romaine in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Romain in French — same name
- Romano in Italian — same name
- Roman in Spanish — same name
- Roman in Russian — transliteration
Romaines among us
people named Romaine are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 213,510 born in 2025 was named Romaine
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 Manual test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Romaine's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Manual climbed just as high around 1915, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Manual's path sketches the road Romaine is walking now.
Romaine sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Romaine beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Romaine in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It is a standing name in French, Italian, Spanish and Russian.
- Every sound in it is easy for an English speaker.
- The meaning is transparent and the history behind it is documented from late antiquity.
- In America the word is a kind of lettuce before it is a name, and everyone will make the joke.
- The spelling is recorded for girls as well as boys, and the -aine ending pulls it that way.
- Romain, Roman and Romaine are all in the record and will be confused.
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What they receive
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Romaine
Masculine · #8910 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Romaines are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Romaine are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Romaine in 2025?
- Romaine ranks #8910 among US boy names in 2025, with 8 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Romaine?
- About 1 in every 213,510 US boys born in 2025 was named Romaine — 8 in all.
- Will my child share the name Romaine with classmates?
- Romaine will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Romaine
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Davie#8910 · Ned#8910 · Darious#8910 · Alois#8910 · Len#8910 · Barton#8910 · Desmon#8910 · Winfield#8910
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Romaine? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Romaine and another name?
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Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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