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Roger

Name list

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
10 min read
Source updated July 17, 2026
Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

Roger is a masculine given name and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names Roger and Rogier. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements hrōd, χrōþi ("fame", "renown", "honour") and gār, gēr ("spear", "lance") (Hrōþigēraz). The name was introduced into England by the Normans. In Normandy, the Frankish name had been reinforced by the Old Norse cognate Hróðgeirr. The name introduced into England replaced the Old English cognate Hroðgar. Roger became a very common given name during the Middle Ages. A variant form of the given name Roger that is closer to the name's origin is Rodger.

01Slang and other uses

Hodge, a word meaning farm labourer or English rural dweller, is derived from Middle English "Hoge", a nickname of Roger. In Under Milk Wood, Dylan Thomas writes "jolly, rodgered" suggesting both the sexual double entendre and the pirate term "Jolly Roger". This was because from c. 1650 up to c. 1870, Roger was British slang for the word penis, and as a verb, intercourse. In 19th-century England, Roger was slang for another term, the cloud of toxic green gas that swept through the chlorine bleach factories periodically.

"Roger" is a standard procedure word in two-way radio communication, meaning that a message has been received. This usage originated during World War II, during which time British and American military spelling alphabets used "Roger" to represent the letter "R", which itself was the abbreviation for "Received". While the NATO phonetic alphabet replaced the previous military alphabet's "Roger" with "Romeo" in 1949, "Roger" has remained standard as the abbreviation for "Received", as it had become recognizable to civilian professionals and laypeople.

02Spellings

The following forenames are related to the English given name Roger:

03People

Given name

Medieval period

See also All pages with titles beginning with Roger de, All pages with titles beginning with Roger of and All pages with titles beginning with Roger van for people with these names

Kings and rulers

Others

Modern era

Surname

04Fictional characters

05Animal

  • Roger (kangaroo), Australian kangaroo with an extraordinary physique, aka "Ripped Roger" (circa 2006, 2018)
Watch videos about RogerExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Roger”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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Related topics

Roger Dodger (phrase)

The phrase "Roger Dodger" originated during World War II and was verbally circulated throughout the United States military as a part of a story about a pilot or soldier who added his own flair to radio phraseology. The punch line of this story is: "Roger Dodger, you old codger!" The story was passed along by servicemen in all branches of the military.

Roger-Vasselin

Roger-Vasselin is a surname.

Procedure word

Procedure words are words or phrases limited to radiotelephony procedure used to facilitate communication by conveying information in a condensed standard verbal format. Prowords are voice versions of the much older procedural signs for Morse code which were first developed in the 1860s for Morse telegraphy, and their meaning is identical.