Leroy comes from the French le roi and means "the king"; it began as a nickname and surname before Americans turned it into a first name in the 19th century. It was a fixture of the early 20th century and is remembered in Jim Croce's song Bad, Bad Leroy Brown from 1973. Leroy ranked number 698 in 2000, dropped out of the top 1000 for a few years and has been back since 2015, standing at number 888 in 2025.