Given name & surname · also Gaelic
Roy
“a red-haired man”·“a king”
Roy is used as a given name and a surname. Interpretations include “a red-haired man” and “a king”. These belong to different or overlapping naming contexts.
Original FrenchRoi
Meaning & origin
What it means
Interpretations include “a red-haired man” and “a king”. These belong to different or overlapping naming contexts.
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is French.
How it developed
From Anglo-Norman roy (“king”), from Old French roi, from Latin rex, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃rḗǵs (“ruler, king”), from Scottish Gaelic ruadh (“red, red-haired”), from Old Irish rúad, from Proto-Celtic *roudos.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
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.
From dated birth records
Roy through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 411,331
- 408,638 boys · 2,693 girls
- Most popular year
- 1947
- 7,592 babies
- 2025
- 570
- #525 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +4%
- Steady
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 570 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 525 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 4.2% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 7,560 in 1947. In 2025, Texas had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (69). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 176,166 as a first name in 2020; 54,089 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.
Roy’s family of names
In English usage, Roy shares an earlier linguistic root with Rex. Roy has a related form in Roi. Roy has a feminine form in Roya.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Roy has relatives in 4 languages. Lines run from its French roots to each of them.
Frenchwhere Roy comes from · 1 name
Nicknames & forms 4
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 11
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- Reydoublet · English
- Rexdoublet · English
- Royafeminine form
- Raidoublet · English
- Rodrickequivalent
- Fitzroyequivalent
- Rajahdoublet
- ৰায়equivalent
Show 3 moreShow fewer
See also 3
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Roy
- Roy J. GlauberAmerican theoretical physicist (1925–2018)
- Roy OrbisonAmerican musician (1936 –1988)
- Roy KeaneIrish football manager (born 1971)
- Roy LichtensteinAmerican pop artist (1923–1997)
- Roy ScheiderAmerican actor (1932–2008)
- Roy HodgsonEnglish football managerborn 1947
- Roy MakaayDutch footballer (born 1975)
- Roy EmersonAustralian tennis playerborn 1936
- Roy Jones Jr.American boxer, rapper and actorborn 1969
Characters named Roy: Roy Mustang (Fullmetal Alchemist), Roy Harper (DC Comics character), Roy Focker (Super Dimension Fortress Macross), Roy Geary (Prison Break).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
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