Primarily a boy's name · Unisex — 26% girls / 74% boys
Origin: IrishRory is a given name of Gaelic origin. It is an anglicisation of the Irish: RuairíThe meaning of the name is "red king", composed of ruadh and rígh. In Ireland and Scotland, it is generally seen as a masculine name and therefore rarely given to females.
From Wikipedia
In Pythagorean numerology, every letter has a value from 1 to 9. Adding the letters of Rory yields these three numbers — a playful read on the name's character.
Rory sits at its record on both measures, 1,594 births and rank 226, each set in 2024, after growing 113% across the decade. That rank is the weakest anywhere in this slice, which makes the pairing unusual — a record year that still leaves it well outside the top two hundred. That combination describes a name on the way up rather than one that has arrived. First recorded in 1933, 46,310 births in total. The bearers are strongly Irish and Scottish: the guitarist Rory Gallagher, born 1948, and the golfer Rory McIlroy, born 1989, alongside Rory Culkin. Like Declan it belongs to the Irish cohort, but where Declan is falling from its peak, Rory has not obviously reached one yet.
Why did you choose this name — or what does it mean to you? Approved stories appear on this page.
→ See names similar to Rory · Compare Rory with another name → · Popular names of the 2020s · Boys names starting with R
Rank is among all boys' names registered that year.
| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1933 | 5 | #4,066 |
| 1939 | 5 | #3,888 |
| 1940 | 7 | #3,086 |
| 1941 | 10 | #2,465 |
| 1942 | 16 | #1,852 |
| 1943 | 14 | #2,059 |
| 1944 | 14 | #1,967 |
| 1945 | 20 | #1,527 |
| 1946 | 36 | #1,174 |
| 1947 | 73 | #813 |
| 1948 | 122 | #616 |
| 1949 | 150 | #547 |
| 1950 | 163 | #534 |
| 1951 | 134 | #607 |
| 1952 | 163 | #548 |
| 1953 | 214 | #480 |
| 1954 | 297 | #416 |
| 1955 | 375 | #373 |
| 1956 | 511 | #327 |
| 1957 | 476 | #345 |
| 1958 | 486 | #346 |
| 1959 | 803 | #280 |
| 1960 | 637 | #311 |
| 1961 | 506 | #353 |
| 1962 | 508 | #349 |
| 1963 | 386 | #410 |
| 1964 | 366 | #424 |
| 1965 | 353 | #416 |
| 1966 | 255 | #481 |
| 1967 | 202 | #526 |
| 1968 | 171 | #579 |
| 1969 | 351 | #422 |
| 1970 | 281 | #483 |
| 1971 | 204 | #575 |
| 1972 | 187 | #583 |
| 1973 | 131 | #703 |
| 1974 | 167 | #623 |
| 1975 | 160 | #649 |
| 1976 | 241 | #519 |
| 1977 | 537 | #335 |
| 1978 | 419 | #376 |
| 1979 | 342 | #433 |
| 1980 | 355 | #439 |
| 1981 | 426 | #394 |
| 1982 | 735 | #281 |
| 1983 | 535 | #341 |
| 1984 | 549 | #342 |
| 1985 | 502 | #367 |
| 1986 | 444 | #407 |
| 1987 | 390 | #450 |
| 1988 | 406 | #447 |
| 1989 | 395 | #482 |
| 1990 | 374 | #512 |
| 1991 | 333 | #558 |
| 1992 | 273 | #625 |
| 1993 | 228 | #684 |
| 1994 | 223 | #697 |
| 1995 | 204 | #755 |
| 1996 | 242 | #677 |
| 1997 | 240 | #679 |
| 1998 | 302 | #609 |
| 1999 | 287 | #629 |
| 2000 | 290 | #631 |
| 2001 | 236 | #741 |
| 2002 | 258 | #698 |
| 2003 | 316 | #645 |
| 2004 | 264 | #724 |
| 2005 | 283 | #718 |
| 2006 | 246 | #830 |
| 2007 | 260 | #829 |
| 2008 | 281 | #784 |
| 2009 | 303 | #758 |
| 2010 | 304 | #748 |
| 2011 | 413 | #599 |
| 2012 | 564 | #481 |
| 2013 | 610 | #460 |
| 2014 | 748 | #417 |
| 2015 | 853 | #379 |
| 2016 | 828 | #386 |
| 2017 | 862 | #379 |
| 2018 | 884 | #368 |
| 2019 | 924 | #358 |
| 2020 | 996 | #330 |
| 2021 | 1,135 | #295 |
| 2022 | 1,228 | #280 |
| 2023 | 1,446 | #242 |
| 2024 | 1,594 | #226 |
