Rory

Irish

"red king"

Rory Origin and Meaning

The name Rory is a boy's name of Irish origin meaning "red king".

This spirited Gaelic classic, which became popular in Ireland via the illustrious twelfth century king Rory O'Connor, makes a highly energetic choice, now used for either sex. Rory's gender split is still trending boyward; it's one of the coolest boys' names starting with R.

In England and Wales, however, the name is virtually never given to girls. It's seen as thoroughly male (and non-female) as Roger or Richard.

Rory first came to attention in the US in the person of mid-century pin-up boy Rory Calhoun (born Francis Timothy). The name entered the popularity list in 1947, peaking at Number 280 in 1959.

Young Irish U.S. Open champ Rory Mcllroy makes a worthy namesake. Bill and Melinda Gates chose Rory as the name of their only son.

Rory is a popular choice all throughout the UK. Skip baffling Gaelic spellings like Ruari and Ruaidhri and stick with the more straightforward Rory.

Rory Rank in US Top 1000

# 242 in the US

Rory Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 45 on Nameberry

Rory Popularity

• 242 US 2023
• 45 Nameberry 2024
• 24 Unisex 2023
• 143 Canada 2023
• 223 Future 2028
• 38 England 2022
• 6 Scotland 2023
• 74 Ireland 2023

20 Names Similar to Rory

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

• Rory
• Ronan
• Rowan
• Flynn
• Riley
• Rhys
• Kieran
• Finn
• Finley
• Cormac
• Milo
• Remy
• Declan
• Hugo
• Felix
• Elliot
• Connor
• Theo
• Jude
• Callum

Famous People Named Rory

• Rory McIlroy Northern Irish golfer
• Rory Storm (born Alan Caldwell) English singer of Rory Storm and the Hurricanes
• Rory James O'Malley American actor
• Rory Cochrane American actor
• Rory Calhoun (born Francis Timothy McCown) American actor
• Rory Hugh Culkin American actor; brother of Macaulay and Kieran Culkin
• Rory Brian Fitzpatrick American hockey player
• Rory Markas American sportscaster
• (William) Rory Gallagher Irish blues,rock musician
• Rory Kinnear English actor
• Rory Best Irish rugby union player
• Rory Byrne South African car designer
• Rory John Delap English,Irish footballer
• Rory Jason Reid American politician; son of former U.S. Speaker of the House Harry Reid
• Rory John Gates (b. 1999) son of Microsoft's Bill and Melinda Gates
• Rory Dartanyan Blackmore (b. 2012) son of musicians Richie Blackmore and Candice Night of Blackmore's Night
• Rory McCann Scottish actor (best known for playing Sandor “The Hound” Clegane on Game of Thrones)
• Rory Zane Ross American actor
• Rory Dames American soccer coach

Rory in Pop Culture

• Rory Hawthorne Gale's brother from "The Hunger Games"
• Rory Pond (ne Williams) from "Doctor Who"
• Rory Flanagan character on "Glee"
• Rory Hennessy character from the sitcom "8 Simple Rules..."
• Rory Slippery character from "Fortysomething"
• Rory Green from movie "Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang"
• Rory Keaner character from "My Babysitter's a Vampire"
• Rory Brown Character from "Mrs Brown Boys"
• Rory character from TV's "Little Lunch"
• Rory Regan aka Ragman character on TV's "Arrow"
• Rory Swann character from the StarCraft series