Rollie
A diminutive of Roland, derived from the Germanic masculine name meaning "fame/land".
Name Census estimates that about 1,415 living Americans carry the first name Rollie. It is a predominantly male name (99.3% of registrations). The average person named Rollie today is around 60 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rollie births was 1947 (67 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rollie. 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.
People living today
1.4K
~ 1 in 242,229 Americans
Peak year
1947
67 babies that year
Average age
60
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,245
Tracked since 1880
Census
Rollie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,360 people with the first name Rollie, which placed it at #9,975 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
#9,975
National first-name rank
People counted
1.4K
1,360 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
72.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rollie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rollie is White at 72.9%. The next largest groups are Black (15.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.4%). 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 Rollie 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 Rollie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White72.9% · 991
- Black or African American15.4% · 209
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.4% · 74
- Hispanic or Latino2.8% · 38
- Two or more races2.8% · 38
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 10
Gender
Gender distribution for Rollie
Out of the 3,580 babies given the name Rollie since 1880, 99.3% 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.
Rollie as a male name
- Ranked #8,169 in 2024
- 10 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1947 (67 births)
Rollie as a female name
- Ranked #5,245 in 1943
- 5 female births in 1943
- Peak: 1924 (8 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rollie leans strongly male. 1,279 people counted with this name were male (94.3%), compared with 77 female bearers (5.7%).
Popularity
Rollie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rollie from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 520 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rollie 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 Rollie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rollies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 18 states and territories. Kentucky, Georgia, Illinois recorded the most babies named Rollie, while Wisconsin, South Carolina, Oklahoma recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 29 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rollie
The given name Rollie has its origins in the Old English language, derived from the Germanic word "hrod," which means fame or renown. This name was prevalent in England during the Anglo-Saxon period, primarily between the 5th and 11th centuries.
Rollie is a diminutive form of the Old English name Rodolphus, which later evolved into the more modern form of Rodolfo or Rodolph. The name was particularly popular among the nobility and upper classes of Anglo-Saxon society, as it conveyed a sense of prestige and distinction.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Rollie can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive record of land ownership and taxation compiled in 1086 by order of William the Conqueror. In this document, several individuals with variations of the name, such as Rolf and Rolfe, are mentioned as landowners and tenants.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Rollie or its variants. One prominent figure was Rollie Massimino (1934-2017), an American college basketball coach who led Villanova University to the NCAA championship in 1985. Another was Rollie Fingers (born 1946), a Hall of Fame baseball player known for his exceptional relief pitching skills and distinctive handlebar mustache.
In the realm of literature, Rollie Pinsker (1907-1989) was a notable American author and playwright, best known for his works exploring Jewish American life and culture. The name Rollie also appears in the writings of Shakespeare, with the character Rollo in the play Henry VI, Part 1.
Moving to the world of music, Rollie Pemberton (1942-2018) was a Canadian musician and songwriter, renowned for his contributions to the rock band Bachman-Turner Overdrive. Additionally, Rollie Salley (1926-2014) was an influential American jazz saxophonist and composer who performed with legendary artists like Dizzy Gillespie and Sarah Vaughan.
While the name Rollie may have waned in popularity in recent times, its historical significance and connections to various cultural spheres remain noteworthy. From its Anglo-Saxon roots to its enduring presence in various fields, the name Rollie has left an indelible mark on the tapestry of human history.
People
Rollie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rollie 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
Rollie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rollie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,415 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rollie 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 242,229 US residents.
Is Rollie a common name?
We classify Rollie as "Rare". It ranks above 92.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,580 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rollie most popular?
The single biggest year for Rollie was 1947, when 67 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rollie is about 60 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rollie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,360 people with the name Rollie, or 0.45 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,975 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 Rollie 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 Rollie?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rollie leans strongly male. 1,279 people counted with this name were male (94.3%), compared with 77 female bearers (5.7%). 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 Rollie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rollie is White at 72.9%. The next largest groups are Black (15.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.4%). 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 Rollie most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Rollie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.9% (991 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 Rollie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rollie a male name?
Yes, 99.3% of people registered as Rollie 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 Rollie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rollie 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 Rollie 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 named Rollie?
Find out how many Americans are named Rollie on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.