Roger

Roger is primarily a proper name of English, French and Catalan usage which means "famous with the spear" from the Germanic elements hrod/"fame" and ger/"spear."

The name "Roger" was transmitted to England by the Normans after the Norman Conquest along with other names such as William, Robert, Richard, and Hugh.

The Latin form of the name is Rogerius, and this was the name of a few medieval figures (see Rogerius).

Radio

The word is also used in radio communications to indicate receipt of a message. From around 1938 it was the military phonetic for the letter "R" abbreviation for "Received," later replaced by "Romeo."

In the old days of radio when Morse code was still used, radiomen used the letter "R", dot dash dot (di-dah-dit) as a quick way to transmit acknowledgement of transmissions or as a "yes." When voice radiotelephony was developed, the old radiomen stuck to the "R" as meaning yes. Since the phonetic alphabet for "R" then was Roger, the carryover was a natural logical development.

It is still used today in military parlance to acknowledge the receipt of a command or orders, i.e. "Roger, returning to base" or "Roger, Wilco." With the widespread use of cell phones and SMS (short messaging services) or "text" messaging, Roger is slowly being replaced by "K" for OK outside of military use.

Slang

It is also a short version of the term Jolly Roger which refers to a black flag with white skull and crossbones, formerly used by sea pirates since as early as 1723.

It has an old (1711) vulgar slang usage as a verb where it means to have sexual intercourse with a woman. Used of a man. After a number of comic references throughout the late 20th century, in the late 1990's the word 'roger' as a sexual act came back into more frequent use, chiefly amongst the young, male, upper class intellectual elite.

From 1650 to 1780 it was slang for the word "Penis."

Famous Rogers

• Roger I of Sicily, Norman ruler of Sicily
• Roger II of Sicily, Norman ruler of Sicily
• Roger Bacon
• Roger Chillingworth, the fictional antagonist in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter
• Roger Clemens, baseball player
• Roger Daltrey, lead singer of The Who
• Roger Ebert, motion picture critic
• Roger Federer, Swiss tennis player
• Roger Galera Flores, a football (soccer) player for Corinthians in the Campeonato Brasileiro
• Roger Frugardi, medieval surgeon
• Roger Maris, baseball player
• Roger Moore, English actor, most famous for his role as James Bond
• Roger Rabbit, main cartoon character of the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
• Frère Roger, baptised Roger Louis Schutz-Marsauche, initiator of the Taizé Community
• Roger Sheaffe, British general in the War of 1812
• Roger Sherman, American revolutionary, signer of many famous documents, inventor of congressional system.
• Roger Whittaker, British singer
• Roger Wilco, the fictional protagonist of the Space Quest game series