Romello
Italian masculine name meaning "little pilgrim from Rome" or "little Roman".
Name Census estimates that about 2,224 living Americans carry the first name Romello. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Romello today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Romello births was 1995 (164 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Romello. 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 Romello with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.2K
~ 1 in 154,116 Americans
Peak year
1995
164 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,276
Tracked since 1994
Census
Romello in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,456 people with the first name Romello, which placed it at #9,509 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
#9,509
National first-name rank
People counted
1.5K
1,456 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
68.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Romello
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Romello is Black at 68.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (15.4%) and Two or More Races (10.9%). 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 Romello 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 Romello at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American68.3% · 994
- Hispanic or Latino15.4% · 224
- Two or more races10.9% · 159
- White3.5% · 51
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 19
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 9
Popularity
Romello: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Romello from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 723 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Romello remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Romello 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 Romello during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Romellos live
The SSA's state-level files cover 16 states and territories. New York, Florida, Texas recorded the most babies named Romello, while Mississippi, Tennessee, Louisiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 58 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Romello
The name Romello finds its origins in the Italian language, with roots tracing back to the Renaissance era of the 14th to 17th centuries. It is believed to be a diminutive form of the name Romo, which itself is derived from the ancient Roman name Romulus. Romulus was a central figure in Roman mythology, known as the legendary founder of the city of Rome.
The earliest recorded use of the name Romello can be found in historical documents from the Italian city-states of the Renaissance period. During this time of cultural and artistic flourishing, the name gained popularity among the wealthy merchant and noble classes, who often drew inspiration from classical Roman roots.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Romello was Romello Aretino, a 15th-century Italian painter and architect who was active in the Republic of Florence. His works, including fresco paintings and architectural designs, can still be found in various churches and buildings throughout Tuscany.
In the 16th century, Romello Firenzuola, an Italian poet and scholar, gained recognition for his contributions to the development of the Italian vernacular language. His works, which included plays, novels, and poetry, were widely read and influential during the Renaissance.
Moving forward in time, the name Romello appeared in the historical records of the 18th century, with Romello Gessi, an Italian painter and engraver from the city of Bologna. His works, including religious paintings and engravings, can be found in various churches and galleries across Italy.
In the 19th century, Romello Bianchi, an Italian composer and violinist, made a name for himself with his compositions for the violin and his performances across Europe. His works were highly regarded and helped to further the popularity of the name Romello during this period.
Another notable figure with the name Romello was Romello Ferrucci, an Italian politician and diplomat who lived in the early 20th century. He served as a member of the Italian parliament and played a significant role in shaping Italy's foreign policy during the years leading up to World War I.
While the name Romello has its roots firmly planted in Italian history and culture, it has since gained recognition and usage in other parts of the world, particularly among those with Italian heritage or an appreciation for the rich cultural legacy of the Renaissance era.
People
Romello + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Romello 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
Romello: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Romello?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,224 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Romello 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 154,116 US residents.
Is Romello a common name?
We classify Romello as "Rare". It ranks above 94.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,253 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Romello most popular?
The single biggest year for Romello was 1995, when 164 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Romello 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 Romello in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,456 people with the name Romello, or 0.48 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,509 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 Romello 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 Romello?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Romello appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,455 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Romello?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Romello is Black at 68.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (15.4%) and Two or More Races (10.9%). 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 Romello most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Romello in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.3% (994 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 Romello in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Romello a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Romello 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 Romello still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Romello 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 Romello 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 Romello?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.