ninan.org

Rodney

Boys' name · Late 20th-century

Living in the US
~189,500 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#1,091 among boys
Births in 2025
197 248,325 since 1880
Typical age
59 years, median

Rodney popularity over time

Rodney rank by birth year, 1880–2025Rodney ranked #505 in 1880 and #1,091 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #33, in 1965.#100#1,000#1,091best #33 in 196518901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1880–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

1965 is the peak year for Rodney, with 11,132 births. It is present from 1880, the first year of the record. Across the record, 32 years put Rodney in the top 100.

The 2025 position is #1,091, on 197 births. The ten-year change is -43%. Year on year the rank dropped by 15.

Babies named Rodney per yearPeaks at 11,132 births in 1965.11,132 in 1965018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Rodney?

Roughly 189,500 Rodneys are alive in the US right now. SSA has recorded 248,325 births under the name since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Rodney?

Half of living Rodneys are older than 59, half younger. The 1960s produced the largest surviving cohort. By the site’s era rules that makes Rodney a late 20th-century name.

Your Rodney

Ages of living people named RodneyHalf of living Rodneys are older than 59 and half younger.median 59020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Rodney is most common

The name is concentrated in Alabama, at 3.0× the national rate. Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina follow.

Where Rodney is used more than average5 states use the name Rodney more than the national average.Alaska: not over-representedAKMaine: not over-representedMEVermont: not over-representedVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: not over-representedWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: not over-representedMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: not over-representedNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: not over-representedNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: not over-representedCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: not over-representedVAMaryland: not over-representedMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: not over-representedMAArizona: not over-representedAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: 1.9× the national rateSCDistrict of Columbia: not over-representedDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: 2.2× the national rateLAMississippi: 2.1× the national rateMSAlabama: 3.0× the national rateALGeorgia: 1.9× the national rateGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: not over-representedTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Rodney is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
Alabama 88 3.0×
Louisiana 65 2.2×
Mississippi 33 2.1×
South Carolina 52 1.9×
Georgia 131 1.9×

Rodney in England and Wales

ONS recorded 10 births named Rodney in 2025, ranking it #2,269. That is 43% higher than five years earlier.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Rodney comes from

From Old English placename Hrōdanīeġ, Hrōdanīġ, from Proto-Germanic *hrōþiz (“fame”) and *awjō (“island”).

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Rodney

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Rodney Porter English biochemist and Nobel laureate 1917–1985 52
Rodney King African American police brutality victim 1965–2012 40
Rodney Williams Governor-General of Antigua and Barbuda 1947 31
Rodney Strasser Sierra Leonean footballer 1990 29
Rodney Mullen American professional skateboarder 1966 29
Rodney Alcala American serial killer 1943–2021 25
Rodney Stuckey American basketball player 1986 24
Rodney Jerkins American record producer and rapper 1977 22
Photo credits (7)

The sharpest rise. Births under this name jumped from 6,097 in 1964 to 11,132 in 1965 — 1.8 times over in a single year.

Birth records contain the rise and nothing about its cause. This site does not supply one.

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Names similar to Rodney

Matched by sound and spelling inside this dataset, then ordered by total recorded births. This is not a claim about shared etymology.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/rodney.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).