Rowdy

American word name

"noisy, disorderly, riotous"

Rowdy Origin and Meaning

The name Rowdy is a boy's name of American origin meaning "noisy, disorderly, riotous".

Rowdy was first famously used as a given name in the television series Rawhide, with the young Clint Eastwood playing Rowdy Yates. More recently, competitive swimmer Rowdy Gaines has been featured in a series of TV commercials, and a new badass baby name is gaining notice.

The word Rowdy originated in the U.S. in the early 19th century, used to describe a rough or lawless backwoodsman. It's one of the distinctly American names. In fact, 2024 saw it feature as one of the fast rising names of the year when it entered the US Top 1000 for the first time when it was given to 250 boys.

Rowdy Rank in US Top 1000

# 926 in the US

Popularity of the name Rowdy

• 926 US 2024
• 1582 Nameberry 2025
• 12 Unique 2023

20 Names Similar to Rowdy

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Rowdy.

• Summit
• Blu
• Brave
• Ranger
• Reef
• Rivers
• Navy
• Zeppelin
• Kodiak
• Canyon
• Lake
• Coast
• True
• Riot
• Link
• Brick
• Sunny
• Park
• Hyde
• Knight

Famous People Named Rowdy

• Ryan John "Rowdy" Tellez American baseball player
• Ambrose "Rowdy" Gaines IV American swimmer
• Rowdy Herrington American film director
• Kyle "Rowdy" Busch American NASCAR driver
• "Rowdy" Roddy Piper ring name of Roderick George Toombs, Canadian pro wrestler
• Rowdy little girl seen on Food Network show "The Pioneer Woman"

The name Rowdy in Pop Culture

• Rowdy Burns character in 1990 film Days of Thunder
• Rowdy Yates character in film Rawhide
• Rowdy stuffed Labrador dog on TV's Scrubs
• Rowdy character in the book "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part,Time Indian"