| Roy | Leroy | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | king | the king |
| Origin | french | french |
| Gender | Boy | Boy |
| Pronunciation | roy | luh-ROY |
| Syllables | 1 | 2 |
| First appeared | 0 | 0 |
| Peak year | 1947 (7,560) | 1924 (3,922) |
| In 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Trend | Vintage | Vintage |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Roy | Leroy |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 3,166 | 1,596 |
| 2010s | 5,017 | 2,173 |
| 2000s | 5,581 | 2,159 |
| 1990s | 8,601 | 3,554 |
| 1980s | 14,308 | 5,600 |
| 1970s | 22,353 | 8,408 |
| 1960s | 40,047 | 15,220 |
| 1950s | 61,847 | 24,588 |
| 1940s | 65,648 | 33,864 |
| 1930s | 51,495 | 36,255 |
| 1920s | 63,259 | 37,871 |
| 1910s | 40,340 | 21,275 |
| 1900s | 10,632 | 4,300 |
| 1890s | 9,779 | 2,544 |
| 1880s | 6,565 | 1,574 |
From Old French 'roy/roi', meaning 'king'. Note a second, separate origin: the Scottish Gaelic nickname 'ruadh' ('red', of hair/complexion) — so Roy can mean 'king' (French) or 'red' (Gaelic) depending on the bearer.
From the Old French 'le roi', meaning 'the king', originally a Norman nickname or occupational byname. A literal 'the king' name.
Roy and Leroy are given to a similar number of US babies today.
Roy means king (french origin), while Leroy means the king (french origin).
In US records, Roy first appears in 0 and Leroy in 0, so Roy has the longer recorded history.