nametree
← RJbrowse · build a nametreeRoan →

Roald

boy name
Origin
Old Norse
Syllables
2
Peak era
Rare
Today
▬ Steady

Torn between Roald and another name? Compare them side by side →

Meaning

“Old Norse for famous ruler; famously borne by Roald Amundsen, the first person to reach the South Pole.”

How popular is Roald around the world?

In the United States, Roald is not on the Social Security record for 2020 to 2025: names under 5 in a year are withheld at source. In Norway, 4 boys were given the name Roald in 2025.

Roald is on the official records of Norway and Brazil.

United States

under 5 a year

In the United States, Roald is not on the Social Security record for 2020 to 2025: names under 5 in a year are withheld at source.

1890srare in US records2020s

Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Roald has stayed rare in US records the whole time: no peak decade to name.

Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration

See the full list for the United States →

Norway

1 in 7,100 · register 2026

In Norway, 4 boys were given the name Roald in 2025.

peak 19482025

share of the boys on the register for that year, SSB’s own figure

People who have or have had a Norwegian ID number, emigrants left out, from Statistics Norway’s name statistics (release of January 2026): by year of birth for 1945–2020 (everyone born that year who was ever registered in Norway, including people who registered later and people who have since died) and by year of naming from 2021; only first names carried by 200 or more living people are listed, counts under 4 are withheld, and SSB merges spellings that differ only by letters outside the Norwegian alphabet. The shares are SSB’s own, of the people of that sex and year in that count; the 2025 figure counts the children named that year, and no year is a count of births. Source: Statistics Norway (SSB), table 10467 (updated 2026-01-28)

See the full list for Norway →

Brazil

At the 2022 census, 28 people in Brazil were named Roald, ranked 99,072nd, with a median age of 50.

People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022

See the full list for Brazil →

England and Wales

last on record 2005

Roald is not on the 2025 record for England and Wales, where spellings under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.

Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales

See the full list for England and Wales →

Montevideo City

last on record 1985

Roald is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.

Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial

See the full list for Montevideo →

South Australia

last on record 1964

Roald is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.

Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names

See the full list for South Australia →

Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.

Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Austria record for 1984 to 2025: Statistik Austria publishes every first name down to a single birth, so this name was not given there in those years (before 2010 the record covers babies with Austrian citizenship only).

All records: the most popular baby names around the world →

Names that fit alongside Roald

Kazuo Yoshio Gilberto Amedeo Fritz August

Keep exploring

Names of explorers and adventurers

The Roald deep dive

Written for you · $1.99 →

Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Roald truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Roald fits with your family’s names and surname.

Both reports, explained →

Does Roald fit YOUR family?

nametree reads your family’s names and finds the ones that belong. Free, private, no ads.

Add Roald to your family’s tree →
BROWSEAll traditions👶 Baby namesAround the worldAll names🔍 Search a nameName storiesThree-letter namesShort namesVintage revivalsGender-neutralPolishJapaneseCantoneseIrishKoreanIndianMexican American
🌐English ✓EspañolPortuguês
nametree on your phoneDownload on the App StoreGet it on Google Play