Germanic2 syllablesLiterary
Meaning: renowned throughout the land.
Roland
| Origin | Germanic, carried across Europe by Frankish and Norman use |
|---|---|
| Meaning | From hrod (fame, glory) + land. Usually glossed “renowned throughout the land”, though the second element may be simply the word for land |
| Pronunciation | ROH-lund in English; ro-LAHN in French; ROH-lahnt in German |
| Popularity | Outside the current U.S. top 100. Steady but never fashionable in America; considerably more at home in France, Germany and Hungary |
| Variants | Orlando, Rolando, Roldán, Rolland, Rowland, Roeland, Loránd |
| Nicknames | Rollie, Roly, Lan |
| In literature | Hero of the Chanson de Roland; his sword is Durendal and his horn the oliphant |
History & meaning
The historical Roland gets one sentence. Einhard, writing his life of Charlemagne in the 820s, lists the men killed when the rearguard of the Frankish army was ambushed in a Pyrenean pass in August 778, and among them is Hruodlandus, warden of the Breton march. The attackers were Basques, the fight was a raid on a baggage train, and that is the whole of the record. The name itself is a plain Germanic compound — hrod, fame, plus land — of the kind the Franks assembled by the hundred.
What happened next is the reason anyone is called Roland today. Around the turn of the twelfth century the Chanson de Roland took that skirmish and rebuilt it as the founding poem of French literature: the Basques become a Saracen host, the ambush becomes a betrayal by Ganelon, and Roland dies at Roncevaux refusing, out of pride, to blow the oliphant and summon Charlemagne back until the horn bursts his own temples. His sword Durendal will not break on the rock he tries to shatter it against. The oldest surviving copy, the Oxford manuscript in the Bodleian, was made in the twelfth century, and every European literature took the story up. Italy made him Orlando and gave him to Boiardo and then to Ariosto, whose Orlando Furioso of 1516 is the greatest romance epic in the language. Germany put him in stone: the Roland statue raised in Bremen’s market square in 1404 is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Browning took the name for “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came” in 1855, and Stephen King took it from Browning for his gunslinger.
Why parents choose it
Very few names come with a literary anchor of this size and still sound like an ordinary man. Roland is two unfussy syllables, spelled the way it sounds, and familiar in English without being at all common. It also works in French and German alike, so it can honour a grandfather in either. Rollie waits for anyone who finds the full form stately.
Middle names for Roland
The dropped, unstressed second syllable takes a strongly stressed middle name well: Roland Amos, Roland Frederick, Roland Xavier, Roland James. The middle names guide sets out how to place the stress across a three-name string.
Famous Rolands
Roland Garros made the first flight across the Mediterranean in 1913, flew as a fighter pilot and was shot down and killed a day before his thirtieth birthday in October 1918; the Paris stadium that hosts the French Open was named after him and is why millions of people say his name every June. Roland Barthes was among the most influential literary theorists of the twentieth century. Rahsaan Roland Kirk played three saxophones at once and meant it. The name also sits on a great deal of music equipment: the Roland Corporation’s TR-808 drum machine, released in 1980, shaped hip-hop and dance music more than most musicians have.
Consider instead
Orlando is the same name in Italian, with all the poetry and a warmer sound. Roger is the close cousin, sharing the hrod element and much the same mid-century American history. Arthur offers the other great medieval literary name and is currently back inside the U.S. top 100 at #87.