Roxane
Of Persian origin, meaning "dawn" or "bright as day".
Name Census estimates that about 4,112 living Americans carry the first name Roxane. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Roxane today is around 59 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Roxane births was 1956 (308 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Roxane. 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 Roxane with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
4.1K
~ 1 in 83,355 Americans
Peak year
1956
308 babies that year
Average age
59
years old
2023 SSA rank
#14,834
Tracked since 1925
Census
Roxane in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,777 people with the first name Roxane, which placed it at #4,057 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
#4,057
National first-name rank
People counted
4.8K
4,777 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
73.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Roxane
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Roxane is White at 73.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.0%) and Black (6.6%). 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 Roxane 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 Roxane at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.2% · 3,499
- Hispanic or Latino13.0% · 619
- Black or African American6.6% · 317
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.6% · 170
- Two or more races2.9% · 140
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 32
Popularity
Roxane: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Roxane from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 1,931 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Roxane 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 Roxane during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Roxanes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 34 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Roxane, while Utah, South Carolina, New Mexico recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 92 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Roxane
The name Roxane has its origins in the ancient Greek language. It is derived from the Greek word "roxane" which means "bright" or "shining". This name was particularly popular in ancient Greece and the surrounding regions during the classical period, which spanned from the 5th to the 4th century BCE.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Roxane is from the play "The Persians" by the ancient Greek playwright Aeschylus, written in 472 BCE. In this tragedy, Roxane is mentioned as the daughter of a Persian king. The name also appears in several other ancient Greek texts and historical records from that era.
Perhaps the most famous historical figure bearing the name Roxane was the wife of Alexander the Great. Born in 340 BCE, Roxane was a Bactrian princess whom Alexander married in 327 BCE during his conquest of the Persian Empire. Their son, Alexander IV, was born after Alexander's death and became a short-lived king of the Macedonian Empire.
Another notable Roxane in ancient history was Roxane of Persia, who lived in the 3rd century BCE. She was the daughter of the Persian King Oxathres and was married to Alexander the Great's general, Crateros.
Moving forward in time, the name Roxane was also used during the Renaissance period in Europe. One example is Roxane de Lautrec, a French noblewoman who lived in the 16th century and was known for her beauty and intelligence.
In the 17th century, the name Roxane gained popularity in literature, particularly in the play "Bajazet" by the French playwright Jean Racine. The title character, Roxane, is a powerful and influential woman in the Ottoman Empire who becomes the object of desire for the Turkish sultan Bajazet.
Throughout history, the name Roxane has been associated with strong, intelligent, and sometimes controversial women. It has been used across various cultures and time periods, reflecting its enduring appeal and rich historical significance.
People
Roxane + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Roxane 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
Roxane: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Roxane?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,112 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Roxane 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 83,355 US residents.
Is Roxane a common name?
We classify Roxane as "Rare". It ranks above 96.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,173 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Roxane most popular?
The single biggest year for Roxane was 1956, when 308 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Roxane is about 59 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Roxane in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,777 people with the name Roxane, or 1.58 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,057 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 Roxane 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 Roxane?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Roxane appears almost entirely female. Of the 4,773 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Roxane?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Roxane is White at 73.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.0%) and Black (6.6%). 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 Roxane most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Roxane in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.2% (3,499 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 Roxane in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Roxane a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Roxane in the SSA data are female. 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 Roxane still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Roxane 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 Roxane 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 have Roxane as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Roxane on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.