Given name
Roxanne
“born with the morning's first light”
Roxanne is used as a given name. One Persian interpretation is “born with the morning's first light.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Persian interpretation is “born with the morning's first light.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Persian.
How it developed
In Cebuano usage, Roxanne developed from Roxane.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1906. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin. In English use, Roxanne has a related form in Roxane. The history of Roxane gives this family its wider story. A form of Roxane is recorded as the name of Alexander the Great’s wife, the daughter of Oxyartes of Bactria. A later literary association is Daniel Defoe’s heroine Roxana; the two contexts belong to different periods of the name’s history.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
Roxanne through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 59,587
- 55 boys · 59,532 girls
- Most popular year
- 1954
- 2,232 babies
- 2025
- 170
- #1,315 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −7%
- Steady
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 170 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 1,315 among girls’ names. Average annual use for girls was 7.5% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for girls was 2,232 in 1954. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for girls with this name (25). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 52,496 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Roxanne’s family of names
In English usage, Roxanne has a diminutive in Roxy. In Cebuano usage, Roxanne developed from the French form Roxane. Roxanne has a related form in Roxana.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Roxanne has relatives in 6 languages. Lines run from its Persian roots to each of them.
4 related names in 6 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 21
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 7
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Roxanne
- Roxanne McKeeCanadian-born British actressborn 1980
- Roxanne HartAmerican actressborn 1952
- Roxanne PerezAmerican professional wrestlerborn 2001
- Roxanne SeemanAmerican songwriter and lyricistborn 1954
- Roxanne Dunbar-OrtizAmerican historianborn 1938
- Roxanne BarkerSouth African footballerborn 1991
- Roxanne PallettEnglish actressborn 1982
- Roxanne ShanteAmerican rapperborn 1969
- Roxanne BeckfordAmerican actressborn 1969
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
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