Given name & surname
Ross
“woman from the headland”·“from the headland”
Ross is used as a given name and a surname. Interpretations include “woman from the headland” and “from the headland”. These may reflect different naming traditions.
Meaning & origin
What it means
Interpretations include “woman from the headland” and “from the headland”. These may reflect different naming traditions.
Where it comes from
In English use, Ross has a related form in Rose. Rose’s flower association connects it with Latin rosa. Some medieval uses may instead continue shortened Germanic names.
Explained through its name family
How it developed
In English use, Ross has a related form in Rose. The shared background comes through Rose: Rose may combine several histories: the flower word, its religious symbolism, and shortened Germanic compounds. Rose can also serve as a short form of longer Ros- names.
Explained through its name family
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1880. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin. In English use, Ross has a related form in Rose. The history of Rose gives this family its wider story. Rose was used in the Middle Ages, with the Latinized form Rohesia appearing in medieval documents.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
Ross through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 82,293
- 81,872 boys · 421 girls
- Most popular year
- 1985
- 1,898 babies
- 2025
- 122
- #1,465 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −15%
- Easing
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 122 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 1,465 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 15.5% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 1,884 in 1985. In 2025, Texas had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (16). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 59,341 as a first name in 2020; 224,952 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Ross’s family of names
In English usage, Ross has a diminutive in ROSSY. In English usage, Ross shares an earlier linguistic root with HORSE. In English usage, Ross has a related form in Rose.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 12
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Rosevariant · English
- Rossynickname · English
- Rossevariant · English
- Rossavariant
- Rossanovariant
- Rosstonvariant
- Rosvariant
- Rossitervariant
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Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 4
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Ross
- Ross BarkleyEnglish association football player (born 1993)
- Ross LynchAmerican actor and singerborn 1995
- Ross BrawnBritish automotive engineerborn 1954
- Ross TurnbullEnglish footballer (born 1985)
- Ross ButlerSingaporean-born American actorborn 1990
- Ross UlbrichtAmerican founder and administrator of the illicit online marketplace the Silk Roadborn 1984
- Ross MarquandAmerican actorborn 1981
- Ross AlexanderAmerican actor (1907–1937)
- Ross Powerssnowboarderborn 1979
Characters named Ross: Ross Geller (Friends).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
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