Roland

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Роланд in RU Russia, UA Ukraine, ZW Zimbabwe, Rolands in LV Latvia, FI Finland, Rolandas in LT Lithuania, NO Norway and Ролан in KZ Kazakhstan.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 4 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Roland is also recorded as 5 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• French given name741K records spelled Roland11 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, Philippines, Canada

  Languages: French, Catalan

  Also written Ro-Land, Rotland, Rölãnd, Rölând, Rṏlaṉd

• Hungarian given name544K records spelled Roland4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Hungary, Finland, Philippines, United States

  Languages: Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian

  Also written Ròländ

• Spanish given name147K records spelled Roland163 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Argentina, Philippines, United States, Peru

  Languages: Spanish, English, Portuguese

  Also written Rolando, Roldan, Roldán, RoldÃn, Роландо

• Albanian given name10K records spelled Roland2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Albania, United States, Italy, United Kingdom

  Also written Ròläñd

• Croatian given name4.8K records spelled Roland12 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Croatia, United States, Philippines, Switzerland

  Languages: Croatian, Bulgarian, Macedonian

  Also written Роланд, Rõlãñd, Rоlаnd

92 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Roland is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In Irish, Germanic ‘fame land’; legendary peer of Charlemagne who died at Roncesvalles.

  as a name·Irish first names

• Germanic. See main dictionary. Also: Rolland.

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• In English, A male given name from the Germanic languages.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In French, Germanic: hrod « gloire » + land « terre ». Saint Roland, fêté le 13 septembre.

  as a name·Dictionnaire généalogique des prénoms

• In French, Du germanique *hrod* « gloire » + *land* « pays »; saint Roland.

  as a name·Dictionnaire généalogique des prénoms

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Rolandb. 737ESFrankish knight
• Orlande de Lassusb. 1532BEnot in their usual nameFranco-Flemish composer (1532–1594)
• Roland Garrosb. 1888FRReunionese aviator
• Roland Barthesb. 1915FRFrench philosopher and essayist
• Roland Petitb. 1924FRFrench ballet dancer and choreographer (1924–2011)
• Patrick Devedjianb. 1944FRnot in their usual nameFrench politician (1944–2020)
• Roland Jofféb. 1945GBEnglish and French film/television director and producer
• Roland Matthesb. 1950DEGerman swimmer (1950–2019)
• Roland Emmerichb. 1955DEGerman filmmaker (born 1955)
• Roland Møllerb. 1972DKDanish actor

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,425 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Roland?

We estimate roughly 274 thousand people bear Roland (counting its spellings and scripts) across 13 countries in our records.

In which country does Roland have the most bearers?

Roland is most frequently recorded in Germany, where it is most often spelled roland.

Where is Roland most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Roland is densest in Hungary — about 1 in 270 people — even though Germany holds more of our records for it.

How common is Roland compared with other names?

In Germany, Roland is the 93rd most common given name of 154,506 given names recorded there.

Is Roland a male or female name?

Roland is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Roland mean?

Recorded meaning: Germanic name from hrod ‘glory’ + land ‘land’; saint Roland celebrated on 15 September.