Roland - Origin and Meaning of the name

[ 2 syll. ro-lan(d), rol-a-nd ] The boy name Roland is pronounced as ROWLahND ^KEY. Roland is mainly used in English, French, German, and Welsh, and it is of Germanic origin. Roland is of the meaning famous landowner. Two-element name from the elements 'hruod' fame ; 'lant' land, territory, homeland. Older forms of the name include Hrodland (Germanic) and Rolland (Latinized). The name is derived via Norman French from Old German, and it was introduced by the Normans to England. In the Domesday Book, it was recorded as Rolland. The name was borne by the heroic and gallant knight of Charlemagne, whose story was immortalized in the 12th century Le Chanson de Roland (The Song of Roland), one of the oldest major works in French literature. He was later depicted in other literary works, including Ludovico Ariosto's romantic epic Orlando Furioso (The Frenzy of Orlando, 1516) and Lord Byron's poems.

The name Roland is widely used; it has 32 variant forms that are used in both English and other languages. English variant forms of Roland include Orland, Rolland, Rollin, Rollins, Rolly, Rowe, and Rowland. Other English variants include the pet forms Rolin, Rollie, Rollo, Roly, and Rowley.

Variant forms of Roland used in other languages include the German and Spanish Lando, the Hungarian Lorand, the Hungarian Lorant, the Hungarian Loránd, the Spanish Olo, the German, Italian, and Spanish Orlando, the Spanish Orlo, the French Rolan, the Italian and Spanish Rolando, the Welsh Rolant, the Spanish Roldan, the Portuguese Roldao, the Spanish Roldán, the Polish Rolek, the Spanish Rollon, the Spanish Rolon, the German Rudland, and the German Ruland. The pet forms Roli (German) and Rolle (Scandinavian) are other foreign variants.

Roland is a classic favorite. At present it is still a somewhat popular baby name for boys, though to a lesser extent than it was previously. At the modest height of its usage in 1931, 0.159% of baby boys were named Roland. Its ranking then was #107. The baby name has since steeply dropped in popularity, and it is of occasional use in recent times. In 2008, its usage was only 0.013% and its ranking #757. Within the group of boy names directly related to Roland, the German, Italian, and Spanish Orlando was the most widely used. In 2008, the name was twice as popular as Roland.

Baby names that sound like Roland include the English Rowland, the Albanian Rilind, the Welsh Rolant, the English Rolland, the German Ruland, the English Ryland, the Albanian Rilindi, and the Italian and Spanish Rolando.

A famous person named Roland is Filmmaker Roland Emmerich, born 10 November 1955, Stuttgart, Germany.

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