Rulon
Masculine
Rulon is one of those American names that exists in one place and nowhere else. It belongs almost entirely to Utah and the Mountain West, it has no agreed origin, and its most famous bearer beat a wrestler who had not lost a match in thirteen years and then survived a night in the snow that should have killed him.
How old is the name Rulon?
Rulon first appears in US birth records in 1905 — 120 years ago. The typical Rulon alive today was born around 1944, making them about 81 years old. About 500 people named Rulon are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Rulon most popular?
Rulon peaked in 1907, reaching #999 nationally. See the whole 1907 chart.
Where it comes from
From appears in American records at the turn of the last century to Rulon
The story of Rulon
Rulon Gardner was a farm boy from Wyoming who had never won a major title when he met the greatest Greco-Roman wrestler alive at the Olympics in 2000. His opponent had not lost in thirteen years and had not conceded a point in a decade. Gardner won by one point, in a match nobody watching believed, and the photograph of him sitting on the mat with his hands over his face is one of the most reproduced in the sport. Two years later he was lost overnight on a snowmobile in the mountains, spent the night in the open at well below freezing, and lost a toe. He came back and won a bronze.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No reference work carries an origin for this name. Suggestions include a form of the French Roulon, a variant of Rulan or Ruben, and a coinage — and none of them has any evidence behind it. What is documented is the distribution: the name is concentrated in a way very few American names are, which usually means a founding bearer whose descendants and neighbors copied the name, but the founder in this case has not been identified.
How the name formed
- appears in American records at the turn of the last century
- concentrated in Utah and the Mountain West
- no origin has ever been established
- peaks before the First World War
- an Olympic wrestler makes it briefly famous
Pronouncing Rulon
ROO-lun
Two syllables, stress at the front. There is no competing reading, which is unusual for a name nobody can source.
Nicknames for Rulon
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
- 1905
- Most boys named
- 193024 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #999reached in 1907
- Change vs 2017
- 0.0%6 in 2024, from 6
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.
Rulons among us
people named Rulon 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
Rulon 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
- It is short, entirely readable and shared with almost nobody outside one region.
- It sounds established rather than invented, whatever the record can and cannot show.
- The most famous bearer is a genuinely admirable one.
- There is no meaning and no origin, and nobody has been able to supply either.
- Outside the Mountain West it is completely unfamiliar and will be misheard.
- The name is closely tied to one region and one religious community.
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Rulon
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Rulons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Rulon are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Rulon in 2025?
- Rulon is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Rulon with classmates?
- Rulon will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More R names
The most-given names starting with R, all years combined.
Robert#92 · Richard#234 · Ronald#637 · Ryan#99 · Raymond#394 · Roger#832 · Ralph#1046 · Roy#525
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Rulon? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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