Rockwell
Rocky, well-fortified area.
Name Census estimates that about 1,567 living Americans carry the first name Rockwell. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Rockwell today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rockwell births was 2017 (110 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rockwell. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Rockwell with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.6K
~ 1 in 218,733 Americans
Peak year
2017
110 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,049
Tracked since 1914
Census
Rockwell in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,195 people with the first name Rockwell, which placed it at #10,939 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#10,939
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,195 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
76.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rockwell
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rockwell is White at 76.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.2%) and Two or More Races (7.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Rockwell described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Rockwell at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.0% · 908
- Hispanic or Latino8.2% · 98
- Two or more races7.3% · 87
- Black or African American4.9% · 58
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.3% · 39
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 5
Popularity
Rockwell: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rockwell from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 714 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Rockwell remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rockwell by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Rockwell during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rockwells live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. Utah, California, Arizona recorded the most babies named Rockwell, while Washington, Oregon, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 52 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rockwell
The name Rockwell is an English given name with its origins dating back to the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old English words "rocc" meaning "rock" and "well" meaning "spring" or "stream." The combination of these words suggests that the name may have been originally used to describe someone who lived near a rocky stream or spring.
In the early 13th century, the name Rockwell was recorded in various English historical records, indicating its usage during that time period. One of the earliest documented instances of the name can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire from 1221, where a person named "Rokewelle" was listed.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Rockwell. One of the earliest was Rockwell Kent (1882-1971), an American painter, illustrator, and writer known for his works depicting the rugged landscapes of Newfoundland and Alaska. He was also a popular book illustrator and produced the illustrations for various classic works such as Moby Dick and Candide.
Another famous bearer of the name was Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), the renowned American painter and illustrator renowned for his depictions of everyday life in the United States. His works graced the covers of The Saturday Evening Post magazine for nearly five decades, capturing the essence of American culture and values. Rockwell's paintings, such as "The Runaway" and "The Problem We All Live With," have become iconic representations of American art.
In the field of science, Lewis Rockwell (1890-1976) was a prominent American metallurgist who developed the Rockwell hardness test, a widely used method for measuring the hardness of materials. This test became an essential tool in various industries, including manufacturing and construction.
The name Rockwell also appears in religious and literary contexts. In the Book of Mormon, a sacred text of the Latter-day Saint movement, a character named Rockwell is mentioned as one of the sons of Nephi. Additionally, in the novel "The Call of the Wild" by Jack London, one of the characters is a dog named Rockwell.
Other notable individuals with the name Rockwell include Rockwell Kent Potter (1851-1928), an American painter and printmaker; Rockwell Kent Rowell (1927-2008), an American politician and businessman; and Rockwell Carey (1874-1951), an American actor and film director during the silent film era.
People
Rockwell + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rockwell as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Rockwell: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rockwell?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,567 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rockwell going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 218,733 US residents.
Is Rockwell a common name?
We classify Rockwell as "Rare". It ranks above 92.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,722 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rockwell most popular?
The single biggest year for Rockwell was 2017, when 110 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rockwell is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rockwell in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,195 people with the name Rockwell, or 0.40 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,939 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Rockwell in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Rockwell?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rockwell leans strongly male. 1,179 people counted with this name were male (98.7%), compared with 15 female bearers (1.3%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Rockwell?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rockwell is White at 76.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.2%) and Two or More Races (7.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Rockwell most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Rockwell in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.0% (908 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Rockwell in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rockwell a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rockwell in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Rockwell still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rockwell in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Rockwell can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Rockwell?
You can see how many people share the name Rockwell on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.