Rory
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Meaning
red king
The story
Rory carries a king in it. The Irish Ruaidrí joins ruadh, "red," to rí, "king," and its most famous bearer was Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair, anglicised Rory O'Connor, who ruled from 1166 as the last High King of a still-independent Ireland before the Norman invasion undid the title. As a given name in America it arrived late and grew in two waves: a first push from the 1940s (591) into the 1950s (3,844), then a much larger modern one, from about 3,000 in the 1990s to 11,000 in the 2010s and roughly 14,000 so far this decade. It travels easily as a short, bright, unisex sound, at home on a girl or a boy, and it needs no nickname because it already is one, the pet form of Roderick and Ruaidrí both.
How popular is Rory around the world?
In the United States, 14,040 babies were named Rory between 2020 and 2025. In Scotland, 275 boys named Rory were registered in 2024, the 3rd most common name among boys that year.
Rory is on the official records of the United States, Scotland, England and Wales, Ireland, South Australia, Canada, New South Wales, New Zealand, Spain and Brazil.
United States
1 in 1,600
In the United States, 14,040 babies were named Rory between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Rory peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure. In 2025 Rory went to 1,332 girls and 1,768 boys in the US Social Security record, one of the few names given to girls and boys in nearly equal numbers.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Scotland
1 in 170
In Scotland, 275 boys named Rory were registered in 2024, the 3rd most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
England and Wales
1 in 330
In England and Wales, 1,760 boys named Rory were born in 2025, the 17th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
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
Ireland
1 in 580
In Ireland, 93 boys named Rory were born in 2025, the 60th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
South Australia
1 in 6602017
In South Australia, 27 boys were registered as Rory in 2017.
share of that year’s name registrations
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
Canada
1 in 1,100
In Canada, 231 boys named Rory were born in 2024, the 138th most common name among boys that year.
In Canada, 109 girls named Rory were born in 2024, the 273rd most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
New South Wales
#85 · 2025
In New South Wales, 99 boys named Rory were registered in 2025, ranked 85th in that year’s top 100 for boys.
share of that year’s top-100 registrations
New South Wales (not all of Australia) publishes only each year’s 100 most popular names per sex, so a missing year means below that top 100, not rare. Source: NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, popular baby names
New Zealand
1 in 1,400
In New Zealand, 40 boys named Rory were registered in 2025.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
Spain
1 in 930,000
In Spain, 48 residents are named Rory, ranked 15,139th among men, with a mean age of 34.2 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Austria
last on record 2021
Rory is not on the 2025 record for Austria, which publishes every first name down to a single birth, so the name was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Brazil
At the 2022 census, 48 people in Brazil were named Rory, ranked 68,557th, with a median age of 42.
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
Chile
last on record 2017
Rory is not on the 2021 record for Chile, where nametree keeps the spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year.
The count never rose above 7 in a year, too few to chart.
First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021
Montevideo City
last on record 1982
Rory 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
Not on the record in Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Rory
Most people given the name Rory 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.
Keep exploring
Irish baby names · Irish American baby names · Short names · Nickname-proof names · Truly unisex names
The Rory deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Rory 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 Rory fits with your family’s names and surname.
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