Ross

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Luque in AR Argentina, ES Spain, PE Peru and 3 more, Roth in DE Germany, AT Austria, CH Switzerland and 2 more, Luke in AU Australia, GB United Kingdom, IE Ireland and 1 more and Luka in GE Georgia, HR Croatia, SI Slovenia and 1 more.

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 2 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◐

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

• Spanish surname205K records spelled Ross14 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Argentina, Mexico, Colombia

  Also written Röss, Rõss, Ŕộşš, Rösš, Řöśs

• a separate surname124K records spelled Ross5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Canada, India

  Also written Ros-S, Rõss, Röss

• French surname37K records spelled Ross6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, Canada, United Kingdom

  Languages: French, Catalan

  Also written Róss, Ross-Shire, Rôss, Röss

• Hindi surname20K records spelled Ross4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Canada, India

  Languages: Hindi, Urdu, Sinhala

• Polish surname16K records spelled Ross61 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Poland, United States, Czechia, United Kingdom

  Languages: Polish, Czech, Croatian

  Also written Ros, Roš, Roche, Росс, Рос

95 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●

Ross 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 English, Territorial name from Gaelic rois, ‘promontory’. Used for Ross in Ayrshire by a Norman family c.1189; northern clan seat at Balnagown, with Alexander and William Ross recorded from 1486.

  as a name·Scottish Surnames

• In Irish, ‘Promontory’; formerly common in South Ulster, used by Ross MacMahon.

  as a name·Irish first names

• In English, Scottish surname used as a given name; from Gaelic ros 'promontory'

  as a name·Baby names, 25,350 baby names nicknames for your family, friends pets, including the top 100 names, 2,000 most popular…

• In English, Clan/territorial surname from Ross; the surname had little currency until surnames became general. Earldom/territory held 1226–1476.

  as a name·Scottish Surnames

• In English, from OG Rozzo, a hypocoristic of compounds in Hrod-; first attested Rozo 1086 DB (W)

  as a name·A Dictionary of English Surnames

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●

• James Clark Rossb. 1800GBBritish explorer and naval officer (1800–1862)
• Harriet Tubmanb. 1821USnot in their usual nameAfrican-American abolitionist (1822–1913)
• Ronald Rossb. 1857GBBritish doctor, Nobel laureate, writer, and artist (1857–1932)
• Elisabeth Kübler-Rossb. 1926USSwiss-American psychiatrist and pioneer in near-death studies (1926-2004)
• Katharine Rossb. 1940USAmerican actress
• Diana Rossb. 1944USAmerican singer and actress (1944-2026)
• Matt Rossb. 1970USAmerican actor
• Lindsey Rossb. 1981USAmerican fine-art photographer
• Ashlee Simpsonb. 1984USnot in their usual nameAmerican singer and actress
• Evan Rossb. 1988USAmerican 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 · 1,028 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Ross?

We estimate roughly 2.6 million people bear Ross (counting its spellings and scripts) across 15 countries in our records.

In which country does Ross have the most bearers?

We estimate about 1.3 million people bear Ross in Brazil, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled luca.

Where is Ross most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Ross is densest in the Czechia — about 1 in 52 people — even though Brazil holds more of our records for it.

How common is Ross compared with other names?

In Slovenia, Ross is the 10th most common given name of 11,759 given names recorded there.

What does the name Ross mean?

Recorded meaning: (i) ‘person from Ross or Roos’ in England or Scotland, probably ‘upland, moorland’; (ii) ‘person from Rots’, Normandy, perhaps ‘woodland clearing’; (iii) ‘breeder or keeper of horses’, or from a medie…