Royal

Where Royal comes from

A habitational surname, shaped by folk etymology, from places in England, Riehale, Righale, Ryhill and Ryall, Old English ryge (“rye”) + hyll (“hill”), and Royle, rā (“roe”) + hyll (“hill”).
— Wiktionary's entry for Royal
  • English
Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #334 among boys — 26 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1888
    Royal Rife born
    American inventor
  3. 1889
    Peak, #274
    37 babies named Royal — more than any year before or since.
  4. 1922
    Royal Dano born
    American actor
In the dictionary
  • A male given name from English from the surname
  • A male given name from the word "royal".
Namesakes
  • Royal Rife · American inventor, 1888–1971
  • Royal Dano · American actor, 1922–1994
  • Royal Harwood Frost · American astronomer, 1879–1950
  • Royal Robbins · American rock climber, 1935–2017
  • Royal Ivey · American basketball player, born 1981

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.