NameRealm
Rooney

Rooney: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning
“descendant of Ruanaidh”
Origin
Irish
Say it
ROO-nee · 2 syllables
Used for
Both (55% girls, 45% boys since 1880)

Rooney comes from an Irish surname, Ó Ruanaidh, meaning descendant of Ruanaidh. As a given name it reflects surname-style use; the older byname is often linked to 'red' roots.

Irish namesSurname-style namesModern names

How popular is Rooney?

202442.0 per million US babies
1880192019602000
Drag the line or the slider to read any year. Values are per million US births recorded by Social Security. Records before about 1937 undercount births, so early peaks can look taller than they were.

Babies named Rooney in 2024140

2024 rank#1,966 girls

Peak year2024

Total US babies since 18801,417

Rooney is rising: use over the last five years is 2.3× what it was a decade earlier.

Names like Rooney

Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.

  • Rileyvaliant · Irish
  • Rowanlittle red-haired one · Irish
  • Quinndescendant of Conn · Irish
  • Roryred king · Irish
  • Lennonlover · Irish
  • Caseyvigilant · Irish
  • Murphysea warrior · Irish
  • Rowenlittle red one · Irish

Rooney questions

What does the name Rooney mean?

Rooney means "descendant of Ruanaidh". It comes from Irish. Rooney comes from an Irish surname, Ó Ruanaidh, meaning descendant of Ruanaidh. As a given name it reflects surname-style use; the older byname is often linked to 'red' roots.

Is Rooney a boy or girl name?

Rooney is used for both: about 55% of US babies named Rooney since 1880 were girls.

How popular is Rooney?

140 US babies were named Rooney in 2024. Its peak year was 2024.

How do you pronounce Rooney?

Rooney is usually pronounced ROO-nee.

Birth counts: US Social Security Administration national data, 1880–2024 (names given to 5+ babies of a sex in a year). How we write meanings.