Rome
Masculine · “the city of Rome”
Rome is given to both — 5,572 boys and 503 girls since 1880. See Rome as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Rome is the English form of Roma, the name of a city that has been continuously inhabited and continuously written about for close to three thousand years. As a first name it is a single syllable, one closed vowel and a soft landing, and it needs no spelling out. It has appeared quietly in American birth records since the nineteenth century, and only lately has it started climbing.
How old is the name Rome?
Rome first appears in US birth records in 1882 — 143 years ago. The typical Rome is a kid of about 5 — this name's wave is very recent. About 5,200 people named Rome are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Rome most popular?
Rome peaked in 2024, reaching #450 nationally. Today it ranks #452, 2 places below that high. See the whole 2024 chart.
Where it comes from
From Roma to Rome
The story of Rome
Latin Roma passed into English as Rome, and from the city the name spread outward into people: Roman meant simply someone from there, and Romeo began as a word for a pilgrim who had made the journey to Rome. Medieval England had surnames of the same kind — Rome and Romer marked a family whose ancestor had walked to the city and back. The given name in American records draws on all of this at once: a place, a surname, and a short form for Roman, Romeo and Jerome. Its recent rise sits alongside a broader American habit of using city names as first names.
Meaningscholars disagree
the city of Rome — though the city's own name has never been explained
Three readings compete for the city name itself. Roman tradition tied it to Romulus, the legendary founder. Scholars have also proposed an Etruscan family name, Ruma, and Rumon, an archaic name for the Tiber. In Greek, rhome happens to mean strength and vigor, a coincidence ancient writers enjoyed, but it is not the source. For a child, the meaning that actually travels is the place.
How the name formed
- Roma
- Rome
Related forms: Roma · Roma · Rom · Rhome · Rim · Rzym
Pronouncing Rome
ROHM
One syllable, rhyming with home. Italian keeps the second vowel: ROH-mah.
Nicknames for Rome
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
- 1882
- Most boys named
- 2025694 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #450reached in 2024
- Change vs 2023
- +20.9%694 in 2025, from 574
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.
Rome in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Roma in Italian — same name
- Roma in Spanish — same name
- Rom in German — same name
- Rhome in Greek — transliteration
- Rim in Russian — related form
- Rzym in Polish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Romes among us
people named Rome are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 2,461 born in 2025 was named Rome
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 Johan test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Rome's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Johan climbed just as high around 2008, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Johan's path sketches the road Rome is walking now.
Rome 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 Rome is headed
Rome is on a steep climb — if the curve holds, 2030 could see around 67% 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.
Rome beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Rome in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- One syllable and a spelling every English reader already knows — no repeating it on the phone, no correcting teachers.
- Spoken aloud it is indistinguishable from the word roam, so in a list of names read out, people may need a moment or a spelling.
- It is a place name, and a famous one. Expect the occasional "like the city?" and the odd "when in Rome" from adults who think they are the first to say it.
- Right now a child called Rome will most likely be the only one anywhere nearby, but the name is moving upward. That can change within a childhood, which is worth knowing rather than worrying about.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Rome to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Rome
Masculine · #452 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Romes are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 5,200 people named Rome are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Rome in 2025?
- Rome ranks #452 among US boy names in 2025, with 694 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Rome?
- About 1 in every 2,461 US boys born in 2025 was named Rome — 694 in all.
- Will my child share the name Rome with classmates?
- Rome will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Rome
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Karson#453 · Kane#451 · Oakley#454 · Bo#449 · Yusuf#449 · Pedro#455 · Sage#455 · Dalton#448
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Rome? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Rome and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Or jump into a head-to-head
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
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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