Roy

French or Celtic

"king or red-haired"

Roy Origin and Meaning

The name Roy is a boy's name of French, Celtic origin meaning "king or red-haired".

We've seen Ray regain his cool, but could this country/cowboy name epitomized by Roy Rogers (born Leonard Slye), Acuff, and Clark, do the same?

Roy came into use in the late nineteenth century, probably influenced by the main character of Sir Walter Scott's novel Rob Roy, in which the historical character Robert M'ac Gregor is nicknamed Roy for his red hair.

There have been lots of notable non-country namesakes, including baseball's Roy Campanella, humorist Roy Blunt, Jr., Walt's brother and partner Roy Disney, singer Roy Orbison and pop artist Roy Lichtenstein. Roy Hobbs was the protagonist of the Malamud novel The Natural, played in the film by Robert Redford.

Roy was also the first name of clothing designer Halston.

Roy Rank in US Top 1000

# 553 in the US

Roy Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 585 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Roy

• 553 US 2023
• 585 Nameberry 2025
• 496 Future 2028
• 960 England 2023
• 68 Israel 2023

20 Names Similar to Roy

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Roy.

• Marvin
• Alvin
• Melvin
• Norman
• Glen
• Roger
• Glenn
• Guy
• Irwin
• Moses
• Dale
• Leroy
• Lloyd
• Howard
• Buchanan
• Eddie
• Reginald
• Arnold
• Milton
• Reggie

Famous People Named Roy

• Roy Choi Korean American chef
• Roy Kelton Orbison American rock 'n' roll singer
• Roy David McMillan American baseball player
• Roy Fox Lichtenstein American pop artist
• Harry Leroy "Roy" Halladay III American baseball player
• Roy Claxton Acuff American country music singer
• Roy Rogers (born Leonard Franklin Slye) American Western actor/singer
• Roy Horn (born Uwe Ludwig Horn) German,American magician of Siegfried & Roy
• Roy Alton Blount Jr. American humor writer
• Roy Jay Glauber American theoretical physicist and Nobel prize winner
• Roy Campanella American baseball player
• Roy Richard Scheider American actor
• Roy Oliver Disney American co,founder of Walt Disney Co.; brother of Walt Disney
• Roy Edward Disney American executive of Walt Disney Co.; nephew of Walt Disney
• Roy Frank "RJ" Mitte III American actor
• Roy Lane Marble American basketball player
• Roy Frederick Smalley Jr. and III, American baseball players
• Roy Dupuis French,Canadian actor
• Roy Marcus Cohn American McCarthy,era attorney
• Roy Halston Frowick American fashion designer
• Roy Kent Head American singer
• Roy Wilkins American civil rights activist
• Roy Fegan American actor
• Roy Lichtenstein Pop art artist
• Roy Linzee Tutill (b. 1954) 14 year old British boy who was raped and then strangled to death in 1968

The name Roy in Pop Culture

• Roy protagonist in the video game "Fire Emblem: Sword of Seals"
• Roy Trenneman character on "The IT Crowd"
• Roy Mustang character from the manga/anime "Fullmetal Alchemist"
• Roy Dillon from movie "The Grifters" played by John Cusack
• Roy Wally character in National Lampoon's "Vacation"
• Roy Anderson character on US TV series "The Office"
• Roy DeSoto character on TV show "Emergency"
• Roy G. Bivolo aka Rainbow Raider character on TV's "The Flash"
• Roy Harper DC Comics superhero named Arsenal, also character on the CW tv series "Arrow", based on the Green Arrow comics, played by Colton Haynes
• Roy character in the video game "Harvest Moon: Animal Parade"
• Roy Batty antagonist of the 1982 film "Blade Runner"
• Roy Rooster character in the "U.S. Acres" comic strip & "U.S. Acres" Segment of "Garfield and Friends" cartoon show