Roger is an English given name meaning “famous spear” made up from Germanic elements hrod (famous, fame) and ger (spear). It’s also a surname originating from the given name. As an Irish surname it’s also been used as an anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Ruaidhrí meaning “son of Ruaidhrí”, the latter the Irish form of Rory meaning “red king” made up from Old Irish rúad (red) and rí (king).
Origin: Proto-Indo-European
Variants:
- Rodger (English)
- Rogier (Dutch)
- Rutger (Dutch)
- Rüdiger (German)
- Ruggiero (Italian)
- Ruggero (Italian)
- Rogério (Portuguese)
- Hrodger (Ancient Germanic)
- Hroðgar (Anglo-Saxon)
- Hrothgar (Anglo-Saxon)
- Hróarr (Ancient Scandinavian)
- Hróðgeirr (Ancient Scandinavian)
- Roar (modern Norwegian form of Hróarr)
- Ruth (Limburgish short form of Rutger)