rise from the ranks

Fig. to achieve position or office, having worked up from the masses. He rose from the ranks to become president of the company. Most of the officers of the company have risen from the ranks.

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Laverne	lə-VURN	English
Rodgers	['rɔdʒəz]
Kristal	KRIS-təl	English
Webster	WEB-stər	English
Damir	DAH-meer (Croatian, Serbian)	Croatian, Serbian, Slovene
Waldemar	vahl-DE-mahr (German, Polish)	German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Polish