Ronna
Feminine · “ruler by counsel”
Ronna is a feminine built from a short form rather than from a full name, which is the American way round. Ronald is Norse before it is Scottish — Rognvaldr, the name of the Norse earls who ruled Orkney — and English took it, shortened it to Ron, and then built a women's name on the shortening.
How old is the name Ronna?
Ronna first appears in US birth records in 1926 — 99 years ago. The typical Ronna alive today was born around 1960, making them about 65 years old. About 3,800 people named Ronna are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Ronna most popular?
Ronna peaked in 1949, reaching #727 nationally. See the whole 1949 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Rögnvaldr to Ronna
The story of Ronna
The Norse earls of Orkney carried Rognvaldr for generations, and Scotland took the name from them rather than from the Normans — which is why Ronald is a Scottish name and Reginald an English one despite being the same word. Ron went independent in twentieth-century America, and Ronna, Rhonda and Ronda were built from it or beside it in the same decades. Building a woman's name on a short form rather than a long one is characteristic of American naming and unusual elsewhere.
Meaning
ruler by counsel
Old Norse Rognvaldr joins regin, the powers or the gods' counsel, with valdr, a ruler — so one who rules by divine counsel, or simply a wise ruler. It gives Scottish Ronald and Reginald by two different routes, one through Norse settlement and one through Norman French. The derivation is well attested. The -a ending on Ronna is Latin and marks the name as a woman's without adding sense.
How the name formed
- Rögnvaldr
- Ronald
- Ron
- Ronna
Related forms: Rögnvaldr · Raghnall
Pronouncing Ronna
RON-uh
RON-uh, two syllables, stress at the front, the doubled n keeping the vowel short. Rona with one n is ROH-nuh with a long vowel, so the doubled consonant is doing real work here rather than decorating.
Nicknames for Ronna
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
- 1926
- Most girls named
- 1963157 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #727reached in 1949
- Change vs 2003
- 0.0%7 in 2009, from 7
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.
Ronna in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Rögnvaldr in Old Norse — related form
- Raghnall in Scottish Gaelic — related form
Ronnas among us
people named Ronna 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
Ronna 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
- The doubled n fixes the vowel, which the single-n spelling does not.
- The Norse derivation is documented and points at a real dynasty.
- Two syllables, said correctly on first sight, with nothing silent.
- Rona, Ronda and Rhonda are all close in sound and spelling and will be substituted.
- The relation to Ronald is audible, and anyone who knows the men's name will hear it.
- It belongs to the middle of the last century and dates a person fairly precisely.
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Ronna
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Ronnas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,800 people named Ronna are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Ronna in 2025?
- Ronna is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Ronna with classmates?
- Ronna 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 Ronna? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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