Roy
Top 1000
About Roy
We've seen Ray regain his cool, but could this country/cowboy name epitomized by Roy Rogers (born Leonard Slye), Acuff, and Clark, do the same?
Roy came into use in the late nineteenth century, probably influenced by the main character of Sir Walter Scott's novel Rob Roy, in which the historical character Robert M'ac Gregor is nicknamed Roy for his red hair.
There have been lots of notable non-country namesakes, including baseball's Roy Campanella, humorist Roy Blunt, Jr., Walt's brother and partner Roy Disney, singer Roy Orbison and pop artist Roy Lichtenstein. Roy Hobbs was the protagonist of the Malamud novel The Natural, played in the film by Robert Redford.
Roy was also the first name of clothing designer Halston.
As of October 2026, Roy ranked #525 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #18 in 1891, Nameberry popularity #334.
Editor's take: The name Roy is a boy's name of French, Celtic origin meaning "king or red-haired".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #531 | 525 | 273.3 |
| 2015 | #533 | 534 | 278.6 |
| 2016 | #540 | 539 | 284 |
| 2017 | #535 | 529 | 285.8 |
| 2018 | #541 | 520 | 286.3 |
| 2019 | #565 | 494 | 275.3 |
| 2020 | #573 | 486 | 281.6 |
| 2021 | #551 | 519 | 296.7 |
| 2022 | #576 | 508 | 290.9 |
| 2023 | #556 | 526 | 307.5 |
| 2024 | #541 | 552 | 320.4 |
| 2025 | #525 | 570 | 333.7 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Roy.
Famous Roys
- Roy Choi
Korean American chef
- Roy Kelton Orbison
American rock 'n' roll singer
- Roy David McMillan
American baseball player
- Roy Fox Lichtenstein
American pop artist
- Harry Leroy "Roy" Halladay III
American baseball player
- Roy Claxton Acuff
American country music singer
- Roy Rogers (born Leonard Franklin Slye)
American Western actor/singer
- Roy Horn (born Uwe Ludwig Horn)
German,American magician of Siegfried & Roy
- Roy Alton Blount Jr.
American humor writer
- Roy Jay Glauber
American theoretical physicist and Nobel prize winner
- Roy Campanella
American baseball player
- Roy Richard Scheider
American actor
- Roy Oliver Disney
American co,founder of Walt Disney Co.; brother of Walt Disney
- Roy Edward Disney
American executive of Walt Disney Co.; nephew of Walt Disney
- Roy Frank "RJ" Mitte III
American actor
- Roy Lane Marble
American basketball player
- Roy Frederick Smalley
Jr. and III, American baseball players
- Roy Dupuis
French,Canadian actor
- Roy Marcus Cohn
American McCarthy,era attorney
- Roy Halston Frowick
American fashion designer
- Roy Kent Head
American singer
- Roy Wilkins
American civil rights activist
- Roy Fegan
American actor
- Roy Lichtenstein
Pop art artist
- Roy Linzee Tutill (b. 1954)
14 year old British boy who was raped and then strangled to death in 1968
Roy in pop culture
- Roy
protagonist in the video game "Fire Emblem: Sword of Seals"
- Roy Trenneman
character on "The IT Crowd"
- Roy Mustang
character from the manga/anime "Fullmetal Alchemist"
- Roy Dillon
from movie "The Grifters" played by John Cusack
- Roy Wally
character in National Lampoon's "Vacation"
- Roy Anderson
character on US TV series "The Office"
- Roy DeSoto
character on TV show "Emergency"
- Roy G. Bivolo aka Rainbow Raider
character on TV's "The Flash"
- Roy Harper
DC Comics superhero named Arsenal, also character on the CW tv series "Arrow", based on the Green Arrow comics, played by Colton Haynes
- Roy
character in the video game "Harvest Moon: Animal Parade"
- Roy Batty
antagonist of the 1982 film "Blade Runner"
- Roy Rooster
character in the "U.S. Acres" comic strip & "U.S. Acres" Segment of "Garfield and Friends" cartoon show
- Roy Kent
character in the show "Ted Lasso"