Romelo
Masculine · “of Rome”
Romelo puts Rome at the front and a warm Italian ending at the back, and it belongs to a family of American names built exactly that way. Behind it, at some distance, is the twin who is supposed to have founded the city.
How old is the name Romelo?
Romelo first appears in US birth records in 1994 — 31 years ago. The typical Romelo is a kid of about 12 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,100 people named Romelo are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Romelo most popular?
Romelo peaked in 1997, reaching #1933 nationally. Today it ranks #2798, 865 places below that high. See the whole 1997 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Romulus to Romelo
The story of Romelo
Romulus and Remus are the twins of the Roman foundation legend, raised by a wolf and quarrelling fatally over the walls of the new city. Italian kept the name as Romolo, and Spanish as Rómulo, both in modest use. Romelo appears in American records more recently and in a different setting, alongside Romello, Marcello and Consuelo — names where the -elo and -ello endings do most of the work. The name has been most at home in African-American and Latino families, and it reads as Italian without being Italian.
Meaningscholars disagree
of Rome — through Romolo, if that reading holds
Italian Romolo is Romulus, the legendary founder of Rome, and the name and the city are tangled: ancient writers derived one from the other in both directions and neither derivation is secure. Romelo may descend from Romolo, or it may be a modern American formation on the Rom- opening with the -elo ending that Marcelo, Consuelo and Angelo made familiar. Both are plausible and neither is recorded.
How the name formed
- Romulus
- Romolo
- Romelo
Related forms: Romolo · Rómulo · Romello
Pronouncing Romelo
ro-MEL-oh
Three syllables with the stress in the middle. ROM-eh-lo, with the stress at the front, is heard in Italian-influenced households; the American saying puts it in the middle.
Nicknames for Romelo
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
- 1994
- Most boys named
- 202155 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1933reached in 1997
- Change vs 2024
- −15.1%45 in 2025, from 53
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.
Romelo in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Romolo in Italian — related form
- Rómulo in Spanish — related form
- Romello in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Florida, Texas, California.
Romelos among us
people named Romelo are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 37,957 born in 2025 was named Romelo
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Romelo
- #2798
- Romelo on the 2025 chart
- #830
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Romelo went to 45 boys in 2025, but Romello is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 98, which makes it the 830th most-given boys’ name of the year — 1,968 places above the chart.
- Romello53
- Romelo45
About 1 boy in 17,429 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 37,957 for Romelo itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Socorro test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Romelo's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Socorro climbed just as high around 1929, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Socorro's path sketches the road Romelo is walking now.
Romelo 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
Where Romelo is headed
Romelo should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
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.
Romelo beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Romelo in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Rome and Melo are both natural short forms and both work as everyday names.
- Three syllables with an open ending, which carries a short surname well.
- Every sound is easy in English and in Spanish alike.
- Romelo and Romello are both in use and the doubled l gets added or dropped freely.
- Its descent from Romolo is likely rather than recorded, so a firm etymology overstates it.
- It is close enough to Romeo to be misheard as it constantly.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Romelo 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.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Romelo? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Romelo
Masculine · #2798 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Romelos are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,100 people named Romelo are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Romelo?
- Romelo is one of 2 recorded spellings. Romello is the more common one — 53 births in 2025 against 45 for Romelo.
- How popular is the name Romelo in 2025?
- Romelo ranks #2798 among US boy names in 2025, with 45 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Romelo?
- About 1 in every 37,957 US boys born in 2025 was named Romelo — 45 in all.
- Will my child share the name Romelo with classmates?
- Romelo will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Romelo
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Murad#2798 · Hamzah#2798 · Hutson#2798 · Rickey#2798 · Nicodemus#2798 · Chayce#2798 · Amor#2798 · Jaiceon#2798
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Romelo? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Romelo 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.
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
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle