Rollin
A name meaning "little roller" or "little wanderer".
Name Census estimates that about 2,374 living Americans carry the first name Rollin. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Rollin today is around 58 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rollin births was 1925 (137 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rollin. 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
2.4K
~ 1 in 144,378 Americans
Peak year
1925
137 babies that year
Average age
58
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,832
Tracked since 1880
Census
Rollin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,533 people with the first name Rollin, which placed it at #6,364 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
#6,364
National first-name rank
People counted
2.5K
2,533 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
82.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rollin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rollin is White at 82.5%. The next largest groups are Black (8.4%) and Hispanic (3.2%). 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 Rollin 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 Rollin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.5% · 2,089
- Black or African American8.4% · 213
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 82
- Two or more races2.8% · 71
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 42
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 36
Popularity
Rollin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rollin 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 1,053 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
Rollin 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 Rollin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rollins live
The SSA's state-level files cover 20 states and territories. Ohio, Illinois, California recorded the most babies named Rollin, while South Carolina, Oregon, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 100 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rollin
The given name Rollin has its origins in the Old French language, tracing back to the Middle Ages. It is derived from the word "rolier," which means "to roll" or "to wander." The name likely originated as a descriptive nickname for someone who had a rolling or wandering lifestyle.
In ancient times, the name Rollin was predominantly used in France and regions influenced by French culture. It was particularly popular among the nobility and upper classes, as wandering and exploring were often associated with the privileged.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Rollin can be found in the 12th-century French epic poem, "The Song of Roland." In this literary work, Rollin is mentioned as a knight accompanying the legendary Roland on his adventures.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Rollin. Among them was Rollin Defrance (c. 1342-1411), a French diplomat and statesman who served as the Chancellor of France during the reign of King Charles VI.
Another prominent figure was Rollin Borde (1508-1563), a French physician and writer who is credited with coining the term "hypochondria" to describe a mental disorder characterized by excessive anxiety about one's health.
In the 17th century, Rollin Petre (1611-1672) was a prominent English Catholic landowner and politician who played a significant role in the English Civil War, supporting the Royalist cause.
The name also gained recognition in the arts, with Rollin Kirby (1875-1952), an American painter and illustrator known for his works depicting scenes of the American West and Native American life.
Lastly, Rollin Amamizu (1932-2017) was a Japanese-American writer and journalist who chronicled the experiences of Japanese Americans during World War II and the internment camps they were placed in.
While the name Rollin has its roots in French culture, it has been adopted and used in various parts of the world, reflecting the diverse and rich history of this given name.
People
Rollin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rollin 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
Rollin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rollin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,374 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rollin 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 144,378 US residents.
Is Rollin a common name?
We classify Rollin as "Rare". It ranks above 94.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,756 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rollin most popular?
The single biggest year for Rollin was 1925, when 137 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rollin is about 58 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rollin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,533 people with the name Rollin, or 0.84 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,364 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 Rollin 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 Rollin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rollin leans strongly male. 2,507 people counted with this name were male (98.9%), compared with 28 female bearers (1.1%). 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 Rollin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rollin is White at 82.5%. The next largest groups are Black (8.4%) and Hispanic (3.2%). 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 Rollin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Rollin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.5% (2,089 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 Rollin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rollin a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rollin 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 Rollin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rollin 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 Rollin 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 Rollin?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.