Romana
Feminine · “Roman”
Romulus was probably named after Rome, not the other way round. The city's name is older than the story about the twins, and scholars generally treat the founder as a figure invented backward from it — someone had to have given the place its name, so a man was supplied. What Roma itself meant is not known, and Romana means simply belonging to that.
How old is the name Romana?
Romana first appears in US birth records in 1891 — 134 years ago. The typical Romana alive today was born around 1954, making them about 71 years old. About 1,000 people named Romana are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Romana most popular?
Romana peaked in 1928, reaching #1029 nationally. Today it ranks #13208, 12,179 places below that high. See the whole 1928 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Roma to Romana
The story of Romana
Romanus was a common late Roman name and became a Christian one through a run of martyrs and a fifth-century monk who founded monasteries in the Jura. The feminine spread through Italy, Spain and the Slavic countries — Romana is entirely ordinary in Italy and the Czech lands. American records carry it from 1891, arriving with Italian and Central European Catholic families, and it peaked between the wars. It has been rare here ever since.
Meaning
Roman; of Rome
The feminine of the Latin Romanus, a Roman. The city's own name has no agreed origin: an Etruscan family name Ruma is the usual proposal, and a connection to a word for a river has been offered. So the meaning is entirely clear at one level and entirely unknown one step further back.
How the name formed
- Roma
- Romanus
- Romana
Related forms: Romana · Romana · Romana · Romana
Pronouncing Romana
roh-MAH-nah
Three syllables, stress in the middle, all vowels open. English speakers occasionally say ROH-muh-nuh with the weight in front, which flattens it noticeably.
Nicknames for Romana
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
- 1891
- Most girls named
- 192734 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1029reached in 1928
- Change vs 2022
- −33.3%6 in 2025, from 9
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.
Romana in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Romana in Italian — same name
- Romana in Czech — same name
- Romana in Spanish — same name
- Romana in Polish — same name
Romanas among us
people named Romana are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 267,878 born in 2025 was named Romana
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 Willetta test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Romana's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Willetta climbed just as high around 1911, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Willetta's path sketches the road Romana is walking now.
Romana 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
Romana beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Romana in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Roma and Romy are both available and belong to different registers.
- It is standard in four European languages rather than an American variation.
- Three open syllables that survive any accent intact.
- The meaning is one word long and needs no explanation anywhere.
- It is also the term for a European ethnic group, which is worth knowing about in advance.
- It belongs to an older American generation and carries that flavor.
- Ramona and Romina both sit close by and will be written instead.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Romana
Feminine · #13208 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Romanas 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 Romana are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Romana in 2025?
- Romana ranks #13208 among US girl names in 2025, with 6 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Romana?
- About 1 in every 267,878 US girls born in 2025 was named Romana — 6 in all.
- Will my child share the name Romana with classmates?
- Romana will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Romana
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
John#13208 · Vinnie#13208 · Margery#13208 · Jossie#13208 · Tressa#13208 · Erie#13208 · Bernadine#13208 · Euna#13208
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Romana? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Romana and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
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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