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Roxana

Feminine · “bright”

Roxana is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 11,994 girls against 26 boys since 1880.

1882high 1987
#2354 in the U.S.given to only a few children a year
rare77 girls in 2025

Roxana was Alexander the Great's wife — a Bactrian princess — and her name is Persian for dawn or radiance.

How old is the name Roxana?

Roxana first appears in US birth records in 1882 — 143 years ago. The typical Roxana alive today was born around 1992, making them about 33 years old. About 11,000 people named Roxana are estimated to be alive in the US today.

When was the name Roxana most popular?

Roxana peaked in 1987, reaching #616 nationally. Today it ranks #2354, 1,738 places below that high. See the whole 1987 chart.

Compare this nameMore “R” names

Lists built from the same records:

I

Where it comes from

The story of Roxana

Roxana was the daughter of a Bactrian nobleman, married Alexander after the siege of the Sogdian Rock, and bore his posthumous son; both were murdered in the succession wars. Defoe wrote a novel titled Roxana. The Persian word means shining. It appears in American records in current use.

Meaning

bright, dawn

From the Old Persian raoxshna, 'bright' or 'shining', related to the modern Persian rowshan. Greek rendered it Rhoxane. Alexander married the historical Roxana in 327 BC. The Persian is documented and the reading undisputed.

How the name formed

  1. raoxshna
  2. Rhoxane
  3. Roxana

Related forms: روشنک · Roxana · Roxanne

Pronouncing Roxana

rok-SAH-nah

Three syllables, stress in the middle. English Roxanne is rok-SAN.

Nicknames for Roxana

Moderate

RoxyThe front stretched, and a name in its own right with a real record
AnaThe back of the name, and one of the most-used names in Europe
II

What the data says

The long climb, and where it stands now

GIRLS NAMED · 1882–202531315703137718822025

US babies named Roxana per year from 1882 to 2025
AVERAGE RANK BY DECADE#1#10#100#1000#6161880s2020s

The same years in position rather than babies

First recorded
1882
Most girls named
1987313 — the highest on record
Peak rank
#616reached in 1987
Change vs 2022
−18.1%77 in 2025, from 94
Roxana sits in the rare tail. Its best year on record was 1987, with 313 girls. Today it is given to few enough children that it does not enter the ranked charts at all.

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.

Roxana in other languages

The same name elsewhere

  • روشنک in Persian — related form
  • Roxana in Spanish — same name
  • Roxanne in English — related form

Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.

Roxanas among us

11,000

people named Roxana are estimated to be alive in the US today

About 1 girl in 20,874 born in 2025 was named Roxana

Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method

Spellings of Roxana

#2354
Roxana on the 2025 chart
#823
counting every spelling

The SSA counts spellings, not names. Roxana went to 77 girls in 2025, but Roxanna is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 137, which makes it the 823rd most-given girls’ name of the year — 1,531 places above the chart.

About 1 girl in 11,732 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 20,874 for Roxana 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

III

Is it right for you

The Anjanette test

Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Roxana's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Anjanette climbed just as high around 1971, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Anjanette's path sketches the road Roxana is walking now.

40%chance Roxana will feel dated by 2040
Roxana, aligned on its peakAnjanette· peak 1971not yet written
#1#10#100#1000peak-40 yrs+40 yrsAnjanette · #15713Roxana today
Roxana today is about where Anjanette stood in 2009 — 38 years past a #616-sized peak. Within 15 years, Anjanette had drifted out of the mainstream charts.
Ages quietlysteadyDates fast

Roxana 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 Roxana is headed

18822030

US babies named Roxana per year, 1882 to 2025, with a projection to 2030

Roxana should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.

Steady-6% by 2030projected around #2,571 in 2030

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.

Roxana beside its neighbors

The names ranked closest to Roxana in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.

Roxanathis name77#2354Eunice77#2354Aislyn77#2354Adilynn77#2354Alyza77#2354

US girls given each name in 2025.

The trade-off

Practical strengths
  • Alexander's Bactrian wife is a first-rate historical bearer.
  • The dawn meaning is transparent and beautiful.
  • Roxy and Ana are two short forms, both with real records.
What to consider
  • Her story ends in murder during the succession wars.
  • Roxanne and Roxana are said differently.
  • One song dominates the association for many.

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Roxana

Feminine · #2354 in the U.S.

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Frequently asked

How many Roxanas are there in the world?
No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 11,000 people named Roxana are estimated to be alive in the US today.
How do you spell Roxana?
Roxana is the most-used spelling in US records — 77 of the 137 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Roxanna.
How popular is the name Roxana in 2025?
Roxana ranks #2354 among US girl names in 2025, with 77 babies given the name.
How rare is the name Roxana?
About 1 in every 20,874 US girls born in 2025 was named Roxana — 77 in all.
Will my child share the name Roxana with classmates?
Roxana will almost certainly be the only one in school.

Ranked beside Roxana

Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.

Eunice#2354 · Aislyn#2354 · Adilynn#2354 · Alyza#2354 · Klani#2354 · Ameena#2354 · Laniyah#2354 · Naira#2354

Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Roxana? See the current top 100.

Choosing between Roxana and another name?

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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology

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