Roger on BabyNamer: Baby Names and Meanings

Roger

Meaning: Its source is Hrothgar, an Ancient Germanic name meaning "Famous spear."

Though not linguistically related, Roger has been historically used as an English version of the Gaelic name Ruaidri.

Origin: "Hrothgar."

Languages: This boy's name is used in German, English and French.

Nicknames: Rogie

Alternative Spellings: Rodger and Ronger

Variant Forms: Rodgers and Rogers

Non-English Forms: Rogelio, Rogerio, Ruggiero, Ruggero, Rudiger, Rogier and Rutger

Source Forms: Hrothgar

Popularity: The name Roger ranked 382nd in popularity for males of all ages in a sample of 2000-2003 Social Security Administration statistics and 50th in popularity for males of all ages in a sample of the 1990 US Census.

This name makes a strong showing in state popularity data of the 1960s, but makes few (if any) appearances on lists compiled after that period.

Narrative: When the Norman French defeated the Anglo-Saxon army at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, the victory they won for their Duke William was also a victory for French names. In some cases, old Anglo-Saxon names were forced to yield their place to upstart French names that were their own descendants.

Such was the case with Hrothgar, Germanic ancestor of the French name Roger. As Hrothgar faded into history, Roger was propelled into the future, spawning such nicknames as Hodge and Dodge (which survive in the surnames Hodges and Dodgson), and eventually joining the jet age as the universal acknowledgment of a radio message -- ''Roger!''