Roman comes from the Latin Romanus and means "of Rome" or "Roman", a name given to citizens of the empire. It has long been popular in Eastern Europe, where several saints and princes bore it, and it crossed to the United States with Russian, Polish and Ukrainian families. Roman ranked number 317 in the United States in 2000, entered the top 100 in 2016 and has risen every year since to number 42 among boys in 2025, its highest rank so far.