The baby name Romilly sounds like a mashup of elegant Rose and sweet Millie, but there’s so much more to this rare, fascinating name.
Thanks to Jess for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day.
ON THE MAP
There are two likely sources for Romilly.
First up: geography.
France gives us Romilly-sur-Seine and Romilly-sur-Aigre. There’s even Romilly in Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. All the Romillys on record appear to be modest places, perhaps less likely to inspire a child’s name in the way that a better known place like Savannah or Cairo.
In some cases, Romilly might come from an Old English word meaning spacious, combined with that familiar -ly ending, for a woodland clearing.
ROMILIUS
Roman legends tells of twin brothers who quarreled about where to found a new city. Romulus won, and so gave his name to Rome.
Chances are that it’s fiction, but it’s a good story. The family name Romilius comes from the mythological founder. There’s a minor patrician family known as the gens Romilia.
But, as it happens, this all goes back to France again.
Because Romilly-sur-Seine is said to be named for the owner of a Gallo-Roman villa. His name? Romilius.
NORMAN INVASION
In any case, the surname Romilly arrived in England following the Norman invasion in 1066.
There’s Robert De Rumilly – or maybe Robert de Romille – born in Normandy, who came to England and held Skipton Castle in North Yorkshire, defending against Scottish invaders.
His eventual heir, Alice de Romilly, established Bolton Priory on the land after her son tragically drowned. A poem by William Wordsworth recounts the story, referring to “young Romilly.”
There’s another Romilly family of note. British politician and reformer Samuel Romilly was descended from French Huguenots who fled religious persecution for a new life in England. His son, John Romilly, followed in his father’s footsteps and became the 1st Baron Romilly in 1866.
Etienne’s grandson, Samuel Romilly, put their surname on the map. A legal reformer known for limiting capital punishment, he was also the father of seven children. His second-born son also entered politics and became Baron Romilly in 1866.
Many years later, Esmond Romilly married one of the famous Mitford socialite sisters. Clementine Churchill, wife of Winston, was their aunt.
So it’s quite aristocratic, with centuries of use behind it, at least as a surname.
FROM LAST to FIRST
Despite a long and storied past, as a baby name Romilly never quite caught on.
British artist Augustus John gave the name to a son. Born in 1906, Romilly John went on to serve in the Royal Air Force.
English journalist and television presenter Romilly Weeks has been a fixture in the UK since the mid-1990s.
But that’s not nearly enough to take the name into the mainstream.
And then, in 1999, actress Emma Thompson welcomed daughter Gaia Romilly.
A year earlier, future chef Romilly Newman was born in New York City. Her career started when she was just in her teens, with an appearance on Food Network Chopped‘s first junior version. She’s not a household name – yet – but it’s more proof that by the 90s, Romilly was on the most stylish parents’ radar.
BY the NUMBERS
The baby name Romilly caught on first in the UK. While it’s never been especially popular, it’s not unknown. For English parents, it’s a little bit like Saskia or Leonie.
In the US, it’s even less common. It first debuted in the data in the year 2013, with seven births.
As of 2023, it reached a new high. 15 girls received the baby name Romilly.
UNDISCOVERED GEM
All of this makes Romilly a contender for parents seeking an undiscovered gem.
It’s a successor to Kimberly and Mackenzie, an alternative to Rosalie and Elodie, and somehow not quite as out-there as Rhapsody.
With short forms Romy and Milly built right in, it’s easy to imagine rare Romilly wearing well.
To me Romilly is too close to Emily for use as a first name. It would be an interesting middle name choice.
ours is called Bell Fir***** as two surnames that died/will die recently due to no male babies X x
I love Romilly and I love reading about everyone’s little Romillys too!
My second daughter of 19 months is called Romilly and it really suits her (yes she’s got a mention on the web page too). I hope it never becomes a “trendy” name like Madison. We mostly use her full name but occasionally call her “Roo” or “Roo-roo”.
I like that it has a relatively distinguished but varied history as a surname/boy’s name/place name/historic name (Heugenot etc). I had no idea there were any celebrity babies called Romilly – that worries me because it might catch on. However, it did initially come to my attention because of Romilly Weeks so I can’t really say that can I?!
We have a beautiful and caring 4 year old Romilly 😀 We chose her name as for a few reasons. We wanted a name to remind us of one of our grandmothers. Her name was Jean, and a Libra star sign, just like our newborn little girl. Libran’s are usually well travelled people and our Grandmother has been round the world 5 times! We searched for the words “traveller, wanderer” and Romilly came up. It stated it was Latin for “Little lady wanderer.. One who likes to roam…” It seemed perfect. We later found out about Jean Romilly from France which made it a very special name for us and an absolute must! It is not only a pretty feminine name but shortened to Rom or Romy (ROM-e) it seems more tomboyish. Everyone loves her name and admires why we chose a name with such lovely personal meanings for our family.
I have a 4yo Romilly and my husb heard the name from Romilly Weeks when we lived in the UK. We know of the website and there is a pic of our newborn Romilly on there. We haven’t met any other Romillys and have only ever had positive feedback on the name. She prefers to be called by her full name, but her little sister calls her Ra Ra, and we sometime call her Ro, Romy or Milly. Its a beautiful name and suits our eldest daughter perfectly!!
Hello! I have a little 18 month Romilly :O) AKA Moo, Moo moo, Moop, Momp, Rom pom, Rom-a-lom. Really did think Milly would happen but never has.
Little bit influenced or reminded by the Romilly Weeks, of UK fame (years ago?), as I come from there and listened to her on LBC driving back from night duty, invariably stuck on the M25!
It is a great name. . strong, beautiful but very individual and independent! As I am learning!!
Kind Regards Emma :O)
I have a 3yr old called Romilly, she is absolutely gorgeous and we knew from the moment we came across the name she would be Romilly. Many family members call her Rom or Romy, which is slightly annoying as she is Romilly Sophia on her birth certificate. We gave her this name as a friend runs a nursery and she had never heard of it ‘she says that is very rare, she thought she had heard all of the names’.
A slight history of the name. Romilly is indeed a French name pace and was a surname of people of aristocracy from those villages. Later Jean Romilly (born in 1715 Paris) made watches for the French aristocracy. Later English artist Agustus John (Circa 1850) named his daughter Romilly, this is the first known use of it as a Christian (first) name.
Romilly Weeks is an English TV anchor lady. I liked Milly and Amilee but my parter hated both, I was watching the evening news and said ok Romilly, she came in and said yes I love it, it’s perfect and really rare. I hope it never hits any top 1000 list, she is rather unique, like her name and I hope it stays that way.
If you want a beautiful name, look at small European villages, there are thousands with beautiful names, just please do not make Romilly popular, it’s rarity is one of it’s lovely attributes.
Appellation Mountain, Rosemarie is a family name of mine, but I’ve never considered Romilly too similar (although now you mention it, I see your point), I think I would try to pass it off as a nod to the Rosemarie and the nickname Romy would reinforce that. The only reason I say this is because I’m wary that I may have to build a case in Romilly’s favour… because alas, Lola you are right – the name Romilly certainly does polarise opinion and unfortunately my other half thinks Romilly is a bizarre choice! I’m going to keep plugging though and if all else fails maybe I’ll be allowed to use it as a middle name! 🙂
I honestly can’t say if it is poised to rse dramatically or not. I find responses to Romilly rather polar… it’s one that’s either loved or hated. DirtyHippy is the only one I’ve ever seen who didn’t just love it or hate it. Indifference makes a difference to me! 🙂 I thoroughly like Romilly and am probab ly going to stick it in the middle somewhere because I don’t think she sisters well for Josephine. But I hope It at least charts sometime in the next 5 years, even if it’s just a blip. Romilly’s at least pretty, and beats Nevaeh (which I still have to think about how to spell it, to spell it)!
Yay, a NotD that is almost solidly a hit! For me personally, Rosemary is a family name, so I would consider Romilly too similar for use. (Or is it maybe just close enough that we could substitute it instead? Hmmm …)
Jodi, welcome! What a fabulous name you’ve chosen for your daughter. I hadn’t pulled up the Romillys’ website you referenced – in fact, I hesitated to date the surname because it didn’t pop up in the databases I searched prior to the 18th century. So I think you’re right – all that history does give the name some additional heft.
As for the is-this-the-next-Madison question? It’s not impossible. And names “pop” much more quickly than a generation or so earlier. Actress Mackenzie Phillips first appeared on “One Day at a Time” in 1975, and her name charted at #838 a year later. It took nearly a decade for the name to crack the Top 500, and twenty years for it to enter the Top 100. Spelling variants didn’t make the charts until the mid-80s.
After Madison’s 1985 premiere on the charts, it took a mere eight years to hit the Top 100 and only about a decade for variants to appear.
When POD frontman Sonny Sandoval named his daughter Nevaeh in 2000, it was a novel choice. But after he introduced his baby girl on MTV’s Cribs a year later, the name charted at #266, cracked the Top 100 just four years later and today stands at #31. That’s much zippier than Mackenzie or Madison.
Miley Stewart first appeared on the small screen as Hannah Montana in 2006. Miley entered the US charts at #278 in 2007 – along with variants Mylie (#861) and Mylee (#556). That’s lightning fast.
So if a name is going to supernova, it’s probably going to happen fast these days. But it does feel like that kind of dramatic rises requires a pop culture precedent – either a real person or a character with the given name.
Still, all it takes is for one of the Jolie-Pitt twins to be called Romilly, or for a new character on Gray’s Anatomy to be given the name … or something along those lines, and yes, I do think it could happen. But it could happen with any underused name – Esme, Clementine, Cordelia.
Otherwise, I wouldn’t worry about it. Names like Isabella, Linda, Emma that become hot without a clear pop culture link usually take longer to climb the charts and you can see them “incubating,” if you will, gaining steadily year after year until they leapfrog into the Top 100 and then Top 10.
I think … any other thoughts on this one? Is Romilly poised to suffer from success?
Oh my goodness I can’t believe I missed the ‘Romilly’ post which I suggested (but had already been suggested!) I absolutely adore Romilly, it has been my joint favourite name for a daughter for years and I don’t mind admitting that it was the English news presenter Romilly Weeks that put the idea into my head. Issues with surname aside, my hypothetic first daughter would be called Romilly Beatrice…
But, and this is a big but, I do worry about the aforementioned ‘Madison’ factor. Do you guys think Romilly could take off in a big big way? Only, this might sound snobby and I apologise in advance if I offend anyone, but I would be mortified if I gave my child a fad name, thus comparisons to Madison and Neveah make me shudder…
NEVER and I have a Romilly :O)