Rory
Top 1000
About Rory
This spirited Gaelic classic, which became popular in Ireland via the illustrious twelfth century king Rory O'Connor, makes a highly energetic choice, now used for either sex. Rory's gender split is still trending boyward; it's one of the coolest boys' names starting with R.
In England and Wales, however, the name is virtually never given to girls. It's seen as thoroughly male (and non-female) as Roger or Richard.
Rory first came to attention in the US in the person of mid-century pin-up boy Rory Calhoun (born Francis Timothy). The name entered the popularity list in 1947, peaking at Number 280 in 1959.
Young Irish U.S. Open champ Rory Mcllroy makes a worthy namesake. Bill and Melinda Gates chose Rory as the name of their only son.
Rory is a popular choice all throughout the UK. Skip baffling Gaelic spellings like Ruari and Ruaidhri and stick with the more straightforward Rory.
Pronounced ROR-ee.
As of October 2026, Rory ranked #199 in US births in 2025 SSA, Nameberry popularity #49.
Editor's take: The name Rory is a boy's name of Irish origin meaning "red king".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #417 | 748 | 389.4 |
| 2015 | #379 | 853 | 445 |
| 2016 | #386 | 828 | 436.3 |
| 2017 | #379 | 862 | 465.7 |
| 2018 | #368 | 884 | 486.7 |
| 2019 | #358 | 924 | 515 |
| 2020 | #330 | 996 | 577 |
| 2021 | #295 | 1,135 | 648.8 |
| 2022 | #280 | 1,228 | 703.3 |
| 2023 | #242 | 1,446 | 845.3 |
| 2024 | #226 | 1,594 | 925.2 |
| 2025 | #199 | 1,768 | 1,035.1 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Rory.
- Flynn
- Beau
- Archer
- Remy
- Quinn
- Finley
- Griffin
- Emerson
- Ellis
- Everett
- Sawyer
- Jude
- Callum
- Rhys
- Judah
- Emmett
- Elliott
- Beckett
- Miles
- Holden
Rory on lists
Famous Rorys
- Rory McIlroy
Northern Irish golfer
- Rory Storm (born Alan Caldwell)
English singer of Rory Storm and the Hurricanes
- Rory James O'Malley
American actor
- Rory Cochrane
American actor
- Rory Calhoun (born Francis Timothy McCown)
American actor
- Rory Hugh Culkin
American actor; brother of Macaulay and Kieran Culkin
- Rory Brian Fitzpatrick
American hockey player
- Rory Markas
American sportscaster
- (William) Rory Gallagher
Irish blues,rock musician
- Rory Kinnear
English actor
- Rory Best
Irish rugby union player
- Rory Byrne
South African car designer
- Rory John Delap
English,Irish footballer
- Rory Jason Reid
American politician; son of former U.S. Speaker of the House Harry Reid
- Rory John Gates (b. 1999)
son of Microsoft's Bill and Melinda Gates
- Rory Dartanyan Blackmore (b. 2012)
son of musicians Richie Blackmore and Candice Night of Blackmore's Night
- Rory McCann
Scottish actor (best known for playing Sandor “The Hound” Clegane on Game of Thrones)
- Rory Zane Ross
American actor
- Rory Dames
American soccer coach
Rory in pop culture
- Rory Hawthorne
Gale's brother from "The Hunger Games"
- Rory Pond (ne Williams)
from "Doctor Who"
- Rory Flanagan
character on "Glee"
- Rory Hennessy
character from the sitcom "8 Simple Rules..."
- Rory Slippery
character from "Fortysomething"
- Rory Green
from movie "Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang"
- Rory Keaner
character from "My Babysitter's a Vampire"
- Rory Brown
Character from "Mrs Brown Boys"
- Rory
character from TV's "Little Lunch"
- Rory Regan aka Ragman
character on TV's "Arrow"
- Rory Swann
character from the StarCraft series