ninan.org

Ronald

Boys' name · Mid-century perennial

Living in the US
~684,500 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#637 among boys
Births in 2025
438 1,086,091 since 1880
Typical age
67 years, median

Ronald popularity over time

Ronald rank by birth year, 1883–2025Ronald ranked #799 in 1883 and #637 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #9, in 1941.#10#100#1,000#637best #9 in 194118901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1883–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

The high point was 1947: 34,972 births recorded as Ronald. The name does not appear in the data until 1883. It has held a top-100 place in 65 separate years.

As of 2025 the name sits at #637, with 438 births that year. Over ten years the count has fallen 38%. Year on year the rank dropped by 62.

Babies named Ronald per yearPeaks at 34,972 births in 1947.34,972 in 1947018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Ronald?

An estimated 684,500 living Americans are called Ronald. That is out of 1,086,091 recorded births 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 Ronald?

Half of living Ronalds are older than 67, half younger. More of them were born in the 1950s than in any other decade. By the site’s era rules that makes Ronald a mid-century perennial name.

Your Ronald

Ages of living people named RonaldHalf of living Ronalds are older than 67 and half younger.median 67020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Ronald is most common

The name is concentrated in Louisiana, at 2.1× the national rate. Maryland, Michigan and Ohio follow.

Where Ronald is used more than average5 states use the name Ronald 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: 1.7× the national rateMINew York: not over-representedNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: 1.7× the national rateOHPennsylvania: 1.6× the national ratePANew 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: 2.0× the national rateMDDelaware: 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: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: not over-representedDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: 2.1× the national rateLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: 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 Ronald is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
Louisiana 137 2.1×
Maryland 150 2.0×
Michigan 223 1.7×
Ohio 284 1.7×
Pennsylvania 258 1.6×

Ronald in England and Wales

ONS recorded 59 births named Ronald in 2025, ranking it #627.

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

Where the name Ronald comes from

Anglicized from Scottish Gaelic Raghnall, itself derived from Old Norse Rǫgnvaldr, from rǫgn (“advice”) + valdr (“power”), later partly merged with the Continental Germanic equivalent Reynold.

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

Notable people named Ronald

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Ronald Reagan president of the United States from 1981 to 1989 and actor 1911–2004 304
Ronald Ross British doctor, Nobel laureate, writer, and artist 1857–1932 94
Ronald Koeman Dutch football coach and former football player 1963 68
Ronald Fisher British statistician, evolutionary biologist and geneticist 1890–1962 65
Ronald Coase British economist and Nobel laureate 1910–2013 65
Ronald Golias Brazilian actor and comedian 1929–2005 61
Ronald George Wreyford Norrish British chemist 1897–1978 56
Ronald Colman British actor 1891–1958 52
Photo credits (8)

The sharpest rise. Births under this name jumped from 6,765 in 1931 to 11,186 in 1932 — 1.7 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.

Related pages

Get this data

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