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Home › Baby Names Directory › Roscoe

Roscoe

♂ Boy

Pronounced RAHS-koh /ˈɹɑs.koʊ/Medium

Meaning: RoebuckMedium

In 30 seconds: Roscoe means 'roebuck', a name with an old, woodland-deer sense in English use.
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Origin MediumEnglish
MeaningRoebuck
U.S. rank (2024)#2180 ↗ Rising
2024 U.S. births67 boys (0.00% of U.S. boys)
Peak year1920
Total births (all-time)≈ 22,096

Popularity in the U.S. · SSA data

peak 192018802024

U.S. births per year (Social Security Administration, 1880–present). Pink marker = peak year.

SSA data updated May 2026. How we source & verify this data.

History & Origin

Roscoe points back to the roebuck, a small deer, giving it an earthy, rural English flavor. It moved from place and surname use into a given name with a sturdy, old-fashioned charm.

The name carries an early-Hollywood echo through two bearers: Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle (1887-1933), a hugely popular silent-film comedian, and Roscoe Karns (1891-1970), a character actor in nearly 150 films including 'It Happened One Night'.

Did you know? Roscoe likely reached first-name use through a surname or place-name route, which gives it that modern borrowed-from-history feel.
Overall data confidence 78%
Behind the Name - Roscoe — etymology, usage, pronunciation, and related formsU.S. Social Security Administration — 2024 popularity rank and count supplied in the batch input CSV

Variations

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Nicknames

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Famous Bearers

  • ★Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle (1887-1933)
    American silent film actor, comedian, director and screenwriter; one of the most popular stars of the 1910s.
  • ★Roscoe Karns (1891-1970)
    American character actor in nearly 150 films, including 'It Happened One Night' (1934).

If you like Roscoe…

Hartley— another English name rooted in deer, here from the deer-clearing, sharing Roscoe's woodland sense
Ramsey— lands in the same popularity range
Raven— another English name
Korbin— lands in the same popularity range
Randy— lands in the same popularity range

Explore names like Roscoe

By themeenglishnaturesurname-style

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Frequently Asked

What does the name Roscoe mean?

Roscoe is usually explained as meaning 'roebuck' and is most often linked with English tradition.

How do you pronounce Roscoe?

It's commonly said RAHS-koh /ˈɹɑs.koʊ/.

Is Roscoe a boy or girl name?

In this batch and in recent U.S. usage data, Roscoe is used as a boy name.

How popular is Roscoe?

In 2024, Roscoe ranked #2180 in the U.S. for boys, with 67 births recorded.

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