Rooney
- Gender
- Boy
- Say it
- ROO-nee
- Origin
- Irish
- UK rank, 2025
- #5,065 for boys
- US rank, 2025
- #2,214 for girls
Rooney is a boys' name of Irish origin, meaning “champion”. In 2025 it ranked 5,065th for boys in the UK (3 babies) and 2,214th for girls in the US (83 babies).
What does Rooney mean?
Irish: from the surname Ó Ruanaidh
“champion”
From the Irish surname Ó Ruanaidh, 'descendant of Ruanaidh'.
Is Rooney a girl's or a boy's name?
Rooney is a boys' name. In 2025, it was given to 3 girls and 3 boys in the UK and 83 girls and 28 boys in the US.
How popular is Rooney in the UK?
- Rank in 2025
- 5,065th among boys
- Babies in 2025
- 3 about 1 in 100,000 boys
- Five-year trend
- Too rare to call too few babies to tell
- Same name in a class
- under 1% chance among 15 boys
In 2025, 3 boys in the UK were named Rooney, making it the 5,065th most popular name for boys. Its busiest year was 2004, with 9 boys. 3 girls were also named Rooney in 2025 (5,990th for girls).
2025 had more boys named Rooney than any year since 2015.
Among boys in 2025, it was 4,974th in England and Wales.
Rooney in the UK, year by year
| Year | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 3 | #5,065 |
| 2024 | 0 | – |
| 2023 | 0 | – |
| 2022 | 0 | – |
| 2021 | 0 | – |
| 2020 | 0 | – |
| 2019 | 0 | – |
| 2018 | 0 | – |
| 2017 | 0 | – |
| 2016 | 0 | – |
| 2015 | 3 | #4,955 |
| 2014 | 0 | – |
| 2013 | 0 | – |
| 2012 | 5 | #3,572 |
| 2011 | 0 | – |
| 2010 | 0 | – |
| 2009 | 0 | – |
| 2008 | 3 | #4,615 |
| 2007 | 0 | – |
| 2006 | 9 | #1,995 |
| 2005 | 4 | #3,330 |
| 2004 | 9 | #1,831 |
| 2003 | 7 | #2,054 |
| 2002 | 3 | #3,325 |
| 2001 | 0 | – |
| 2000 | 0 | – |
| 1999 | 3 | #3,043 |
How popular is Rooney in the US?
- Rank in 2025
- 2,214th among girls
- Babies in 2025
- 83 about 1 in 19,000 girls
- Five-year trend
- Rising up 34% in five years
- Same name in a class
- under 1% chance among 15 girls
In 2025, 83 girls in the US were named Rooney, making it the 2,214th most popular name for girls. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 2,317th. Its busiest year was 2024, with 101 girls. It first appears in the records in 2011. 28 boys were also named Rooney in 2025 (3,847th for boys).
Half of all the girls named Rooney in the US since 1880 were born between 2017 and 2023, the years shaded on the chart below.
In 2011, 12% of the babies named Rooney in the US were girls. By 2025 it was 75%, with more girls than boys since 2014.
Rooney in the US, year by year
| Year | Girls | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 83 | #2,214 |
| 2024 | 101 | #1,955 |
| 2023 | 93 | #2,076 |
| 2022 | 91 | #2,103 |
| 2021 | 68 | #2,558 |
| 2020 | 76 | #2,317 |
| 2019 | 58 | #2,856 |
| 2018 | 73 | #2,438 |
| 2017 | 44 | #3,478 |
| 2016 | 38 | #3,923 |
| 2015 | 36 | #4,068 |
| 2014 | 38 | #3,923 |
| 2013 | 32 | #4,420 |
| 2012 | 21 | #6,107 |
| 2011 | 6 | #14,816 |
Names like Rooney
Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.
Ronan, Finn, Rowan, Kian, Aiden, Finley, Declan, Brody, Renley, Kayden, Conan, Darragh
Names related to Rooney
More Irish names
Oscar, Rory, Maeve, Ryan, Nolan, Quinn, Orla, Cody, Erin, Connor, Casey, Kennedy, Callan, Lennon, Cillian, Kevin
Sources
Figures from Baby names in England and Wales (Office for National Statistics), Babies' first names (National Records of Scotland), Baby names (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency) and Popular Baby Names (US Social Security Administration). Nameling last updated them on 20 October 2026. How the figures are worked out, and the data to download.
To cite this page: Nameling, “Rooney: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/rooney, updated 20 October 2026.