Rodrigo
Rodrigo was the 492nd most popular name for boys in 2025, given to 614 babies. Its best year was 2007, when it ranked 291st with 1,177 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 32 places. More babies were named Rodrigo in the 2000s than in any other decade.
Meaning famous ruler (Spanish form of Roderick) · Germanic, Spanish
Say it roh-DREE-goh /roʊˈdriɡoʊ/
- Rank in 2025
- #492 boys, up 85 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 614boys
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a boy’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 20071,177 babies
- Total since 1880
- 27,759babies recorded
What does the name Rodrigo mean?
Rodrigo is the Spanish and Portuguese form of Roderick. DMNES derives Roderick from Germanic hrōd, "fame", and rīh, "ruler", and notes it was the name of the last Visigothic king of Spain and the birth name of the 11th-century hero El Cid, Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar. Harrison (1918) also glosses it "famous ruler".
hrōd (Old Saxon, “fame”)rīh (Old High German, “ruler”)
How sure is this? Well established.
Related names: Roderick, Rodrigues, Rory, Rod.
See also: Germanic names, names that mean king or queen, names that mean fame.
Sources for this meaning
- Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources (ed. S. L. Uckelman), Edition 2023 no. 1, s.v. 'Roderick', DMNES, Durham University
- Henry Harrison, Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary, vol. 2 (1918), s.v. 'RODERICK', Morland Press (public domain; Internet Archive scan)
- CMU Pronouncing Dictionary (cmudict), Carnegie Mellon University
Nicknames for Rodrigo
The usual nicknames for Rodrigo are Rigo and Rod. Some parents skip the long form: for every 100 boys named Rodrigo in the last five years, 5 were named Rigo, against 7 twenty years earlier.
Nicknames reviewed by our editors; counts are boys given the nickname as their legal first name. Nobody records how many Rodrigos go by each one.
Rodrigo popularity since 1880
A few girls are given the name too: 5 since 1986.
| Year | Rank (boys) | Babies (boys) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #492 | 614 |
| 2020 | #577 | 482 |
| 2010 | #415 | 676 |
| 2000 | #383 | 680 |
| 1990 | #508 | 378 |
| 1980 | #649 | 179 |
| 1970 | #794 | 108 |
| 1960 | #1,114 | 50 |
| 1950 | #1,164 | 39 |
| 1940 | #1,360 | 25 |
| 1930 | #1,944 | 16 |
| 1920 | #4,846 | 5 |
| 1910 | — | — |
| 1900 | — | — |
| 1890 | — | — |
| 1880 | — | — |
How popular is Rodrigo, counting every spelling?
Rodrigo is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #481 for boys in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #492 for Rodrigo on its own. Together these spellings went to 633 boys in 2025.
| Spelling | Babies 2025 | Official rank | Babies 2021–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rodrigo | 614 | #492 | 2,917 |
| Rodrygo | 19 | #5,160 | 56 |
Spellings count together when they sound the same in American English and are used for the same sex; nicknames and forms that sound different (such as Theo and Theodore) are kept apart. How we group spellings.
How many kids will share the name Rodrigo?
614 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Rodrigo (0.17 per 1,000 births). For a boy named Rodrigo born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 14 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Rodrigo.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Rodrigo?
About 26,400 people born in the US named Rodrigo are alive today, with a median age of 20; half are between 12 and 31. That makes Rodrigo mostly worn by children and young adults.
Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.
Rodrigo by state
How common Rodrigo was among boys born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in Texas (3.3×), New Mexico (2.3×), Arizona (2.2×), California (1.7×), Florida (1.6×). In 17 states fewer than five boys a year got the name, too few for SSA to publish, so those states show as zero.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Rodrigo: their share of US boys followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Rodrigo, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Rodrigo · Sibling names for Rodrigo
Questions about the name Rodrigo
What does Rodrigo mean?
Rodrigo means “famous ruler (Spanish form of Roderick)” (Germanic, Spanish origin). Certainty: well established.
How popular is the name Rodrigo?
Rodrigo was the 492nd most popular name for boys in 2025, given to 614 babies. Its best year was 2007, when it ranked 291st with 1,177 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 32 places. More babies were named Rodrigo in the 2000s than in any other decade.
Is Rodrigo a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a boy’s name given the name Rodrigo in the US.
Where is Rodrigo most popular?
In 2021–2025, Rodrigo was most common in Texas (1.10 per 1,000 boys), followed by New Mexico and Arizona.