Declining since 2019, #8,910 for boys today.
Popularity of Royston since 1916
Babies named Royston per year in U.S. Social Security records. Raw births topped out in 2016, but relative to how few babies were recorded back then, Royston's real moment was 1918.
Data table (by decade)
| Decade | Boys |
|---|---|
| 1910s | 14 |
| 1920s | 57 |
| 1930s | 0 |
| 1940s | 6 |
| 1950s | 8 |
| 1960s | 0 |
| 1970s | 10 |
| 1980s | 28 |
| 1990s | 18 |
| 2000s | 22 |
| 2010s | 59 |
| 2020s | 30 |
Meaning & origin
Royston first appeared in U.S. birth records in 1916, peaking in popularity in 1918 during the height of WWI. Since then it has fallen steadily out of fashion. In 2023 the name ranked 8,910th, with only about 1 in every 213,510 male births receiving the name. Its trajectory has been declining since at least 2019, reflecting a broader trend away from early-20th-century English habitational surnames as first names. Royston has no top states and remains a rare choice even in its most favored period.
Royston is a habitational surname-turned-given name, derived from the town of Royston in Hertfordshire, England. The place name itself comes from the Old English elements *Hrōþwulf* (a personal name meaning 'fame-wolf') and *tūn* ('enclosure, settlement'), thus 'Hrothwulf's town'. Historically used as a surname, it transitioned to occasional use as a first name in the early 20th century, particularly in the United Kingdom and United States.
Nicknames & variants
Nicknames: Roy
Sibling names for Royston
Names that share Royston's style, for a brother or sister.
