Romeo
Meaning
"pilgrim to Rome"
The story
Romeo is the pilgrim to Rome, which is the joke the etymology plays on four centuries of balconies: the most romantic name in the language means, literally, a man on a religious walking tour. Juliet told her story one batch back in our worklist, and the reunion comes with a scoreline: she stands at 6,500 so far this decade, he at 6,200, the lady still leading. Romeo's own record ran quiet and Italian for a century, about 500 to 1,000 a decade, then climbed: 1,500 in the 1990s, 4,500 in the 2000s, the decade a certain footballing family gave the name to a son, and 9,200 in the 2010s; decade buckets point, they do not convict. One figure is absolute: across the whole record, not one girl, 26,900 boys to zero. Shakespeare's pair, restored to the same ledger a week apart: the record has a sense of occasion.
On record since at least 1321: Romeo di Villeneuve, Provençal minister, named Romeo in Dante's Paradiso VI.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Romeo peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
1,892 people · the #5,288 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 111,111 · median age 8
Among people named Romeo living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 687 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Romeo
Most people given the name Romeo in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Romeo deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Romeo 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 Romeo fits with your family’s names and surname.
Where Romeo travels
Filipino · A documented choice in Filipino families.
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