Rodrigo
A masculine name of Spanish origin meaning "famous power" or "powerful ruler".
Name Census estimates that about 26,070 living Americans carry the first name Rodrigo. It sits at #481 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Rodrigo today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rodrigo births was 2007 (1,177 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rodrigo. 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 Rodrigo with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
26K
~ 1 in 13,147 Americans
Peak year
2007
1,177 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2024 SSA rank
#481
Tracked since 1918
Census
Rodrigo in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 43,700 people with the first name Rodrigo, which placed it at #983 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
#983
National first-name rank
People counted
44K
43,700 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
14.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
86.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rodrigo
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rodrigo is Hispanic at 86.8%. The next largest groups are White (7.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.6%). 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 Rodrigo 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 Rodrigo at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino86.8% · 37,934
- White7.5% · 3,287
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.6% · 2,004
- Black or African American0.6% · 275
- Two or more races0.3% · 143
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 57
Gender
Gender distribution for Rodrigo
Out of the 27,144 babies given the name Rodrigo since 1880, 100.0% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Rodrigo as a male name
- Ranked #481 in 2024
- 640 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2007 (1,177 births)
Rodrigo as a female name
- Ranked #12,346 in 1986
- 5 female births in 1986
- Peak: 1986 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rodrigo appears almost entirely male. Of the 43,705 people counted with this name, 99.8% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Rodrigo: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rodrigo from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 8,032 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Rodrigo remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rodrigo 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 Rodrigo during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rodrigos live
The SSA's state-level files cover 37 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Rodrigo, while Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 667 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rodrigo
The name Rodrigo originated from the Visigothic roots "rod" meaning "famous" and "ric" meaning "powerful" or "ruler". It emerged in medieval Spain and Portugal during the 8th to 11th centuries when the Visigoths ruled parts of the Iberian Peninsula. The name was initially spelled as "Roderico" in its Latin form.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with this name was Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, a Castilian knight and military leader born in 1043. He is better known as El Cid, a national hero in Spain for his military exploits against the Moors. His life and deeds were documented in the epic poem "El Cantar de Mio Cid" composed around 1200.
Another prominent figure was Rodrigo Borgia, an Italian Renaissance ecclesiastic who became Pope Alexander VI in 1492. He was a controversial pope known for his secular ambitions and nepotism. His reign was marked by political intrigues and scandals, including accusations of immorality and corruption.
In the 16th century, Rodrigo Calderón was a Spanish courtier and favorite of King Philip III. He served as Secretary of State and rose to become the Count of Oliva before falling out of favor and being executed in 1621 for alleged crimes and misuse of power.
The name Rodrigo also appeared in literature, such as in the works of Spanish playwright Lope de Vega. One of his plays, "El mejor alcalde, el rey" (The Best Mayor, the King), featured a character named Rodrigo Viejo who becomes the mayor of a town and upholds justice.
In the 19th century, Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar y Mendoza was a Spanish nobleman and military officer who fought against Napoleon's forces during the Peninsular War. He was made the Count of Valencia de Don Juan for his services.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals with the name Rodrigo throughout history, highlighting its Iberian origins and use by various prominent figures in different fields, including military, religious, and literary spheres.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Rodrigo
People
Rodrigo + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rodrigo 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
Rodrigo: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rodrigo?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 26,070 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rodrigo 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 13,147 US residents.
Is Rodrigo a common name?
We classify Rodrigo as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 27,144 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rodrigo most popular?
The single biggest year for Rodrigo was 2007, when 1,177 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rodrigo is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rodrigo in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 43,700 people with the name Rodrigo, or 14.47 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #983 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 Rodrigo 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 Rodrigo?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rodrigo appears almost entirely male. Of the 43,705 people counted with this name, 99.8% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Rodrigo?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rodrigo is Hispanic at 86.8%. The next largest groups are White (7.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.6%). 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 Rodrigo most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Rodrigo in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.8% (37,934 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 Rodrigo in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rodrigo a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rodrigo 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 Rodrigo still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rodrigo 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 Rodrigo 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 many people are called Rodrigo?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.