Reese
Reese is a unisex name: 1,631 girls and 475 boys were given it in 2025 (#192 among girls’ names and #603 among boys’, #319 among all names counting both); 64,381 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026). Girls have outnumbered boys among babies named Reese every year since 2003.
An estimated 61,700 Americans named Reese and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (96% of everyone recorded); the median is 14 years old and half are between 8 and 20.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Reese by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Reese mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Reese is “a female given name transferred from the surname, of 1980s and later American usage.” Its etymology gives the sense “ardor” (literally).
As a given name and British surname generally from Welsh Rhys (literally “ardor”).
Chiefly in North America, the surname may also be from unrelated German Reese (literally “giant”).
/ɹis/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Reese?
#192 among girls’ names, 2025
Reese fell from #172 in 2015 to #192 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born held at 1.0 per 1,000.
2,950 babies in 2007, the peak
Reese peaked in 2007, when 2,950 babies were given it (2,347 girls, #150 among girls’ names). The 2,106 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 71% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1,631 | #192 | 475 | #603 |
| 2024 | 1,592 | #190 | 456 | #621 |
| 2023 | 1,667 | #174 | 439 | #632 |
| 2022 | 1,728 | #168 | 428 | #647 |
| 2021 | 1,890 | #148 | 375 | #703 |
| 2020 | 1,878 | #146 | 336 | #733 |
| 2019 | 1,816 | #159 | 312 | #762 |
| 2018 | 1,792 | #159 | 384 | #660 |
| 2017 | 1,754 | #171 | 362 | #689 |
| 2016 | 1,823 | #180 | 384 | #673 |
Every recorded year (144)
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 1,859 | #172 | 358 | #703 |
| 2014 | 1,972 | #165 | 407 | #648 |
| 2013 | 2,061 | #156 | 421 | #604 |
| 2012 | 2,459 | #128 | 476 | #548 |
| 2011 | 2,381 | #131 | 471 | #543 |
| 2010 | 2,265 | #137 | 533 | #487 |
| 2009 | 2,236 | #144 | 574 | #477 |
| 2008 | 2,238 | #154 | 599 | #461 |
| 2007 | 2,347 | #150 | 603 | #458 |
| 2006 | 2,187 | #161 | 643 | #432 |
| 2005 | 1,413 | #237 | 699 | #404 |
| 2004 | 1,241 | #259 | 698 | #389 |
| 2003 | 996 | #312 | 709 | #369 |
| 2002 | 614 | #465 | 675 | #388 |
| 2001 | 303 | #783 | 646 | #393 |
| 2000 | 249 | #885 | 592 | #418 |
| 1999 | 171 | #1,150 | 500 | #458 |
| 1998 | 75 | #2,004 | 365 | #547 |
| 1997 | 52 | #2,502 | 241 | #676 |
| 1996 | 41 | #2,940 | 209 | #735 |
| 1995 | 6 | #12,986 | 214 | #732 |
| 1994 | 11 | #8,009 | 185 | #781 |
| 1993 | 7 | #11,474 | 179 | #789 |
| 1992 | 9 | #9,301 | 171 | #798 |
| 1991 | under 5 | 131 | #923 | |
| 1990 | under 5 | 132 | #892 | |
| 1989 | under 5 | 131 | #880 | |
| 1988 | under 5 | 105 | #940 | |
| 1987 | under 5 | 87 | #1,021 | |
| 1986 | under 5 | 88 | #986 | |
| 1985 | under 5 | 88 | #973 | |
| 1984 | under 5 | 54 | #1,260 | |
| 1983 | under 5 | 46 | #1,392 | |
| 1982 | under 5 | 53 | #1,287 | |
| 1981 | under 5 | 47 | #1,389 | |
| 1980 | under 5 | 53 | #1,287 | |
| 1979 | under 5 | 38 | #1,559 | |
| 1978 | under 5 | 44 | #1,406 | |
| 1977 | under 5 | 54 | #1,205 | |
| 1976 | under 5 | 49 | #1,255 | |
| 1975 | under 5 | 40 | #1,400 | |
| 1974 | under 5 | 55 | #1,113 | |
| 1973 | under 5 | 36 | #1,427 | |
| 1972 | under 5 | 48 | #1,190 | |
| 1971 | under 5 | 54 | #1,122 | |
| 1970 | under 5 | 70 | #966 | |
| 1969 | under 5 | 46 | #1,161 | |
| 1968 | under 5 | 66 | #891 | |
| 1967 | under 5 | 68 | #873 | |
| 1966 | under 5 | 81 | #811 | |
| 1965 | under 5 | 60 | #955 | |
| 1964 | under 5 | 46 | #1,142 | |
| 1963 | under 5 | 42 | #1,211 | |
| 1962 | under 5 | 55 | #1,032 | |
| 1961 | under 5 | 50 | #1,116 | |
| 1960 | under 5 | 44 | #1,188 | |
| 1959 | 5 | #6,998 | 50 | #1,097 |
| 1958 | under 5 | 48 | #1,112 | |
| 1957 | under 5 | 62 | #967 | |
| 1956 | under 5 | 58 | #982 | |
| 1955 | under 5 | 56 | #1,007 | |
| 1954 | under 5 | 48 | #1,093 | |
| 1953 | under 5 | 49 | #1,042 | |
| 1952 | under 5 | 44 | #1,109 | |
| 1951 | under 5 | 37 | #1,214 | |
| 1950 | under 5 | 51 | #975 | |
| 1949 | under 5 | 52 | #962 | |
| 1948 | under 5 | 42 | #1,101 | |
| 1947 | under 5 | 38 | #1,186 | |
| 1946 | under 5 | 41 | #1,088 | |
| 1945 | under 5 | 32 | #1,177 | |
| 1944 | under 5 | 40 | #1,050 | |
| 1943 | under 5 | 52 | #929 | |
| 1942 | under 5 | 41 | #1,071 | |
| 1941 | under 5 | 25 | #1,366 | |
| 1940 | under 5 | 34 | #1,152 | |
| 1939 | under 5 | 36 | #1,081 | |
| 1938 | under 5 | 36 | #1,091 | |
| 1937 | under 5 | 42 | #979 | |
| 1936 | under 5 | 33 | #1,163 | |
| 1935 | under 5 | 34 | #1,143 | |
| 1934 | under 5 | 30 | #1,237 | |
| 1933 | under 5 | 27 | #1,302 | |
| 1932 | under 5 | 41 | #1,051 | |
| 1931 | under 5 | 39 | #1,096 | |
| 1930 | under 5 | 39 | #1,130 | |
| 1929 | under 5 | 40 | #1,107 | |
| 1928 | under 5 | 54 | #923 | |
| 1927 | under 5 | 50 | #999 | |
| 1926 | under 5 | 50 | #977 | |
| 1925 | under 5 | 45 | #1,037 | |
| 1924 | 6 | #4,936 | 59 | #915 |
| 1923 | under 5 | 61 | #879 | |
| 1922 | under 5 | 49 | #1,017 | |
| 1921 | under 5 | 66 | #854 | |
| 1920 | under 5 | 44 | #1,068 | |
| 1919 | under 5 | 50 | #956 | |
| 1918 | under 5 | 45 | #1,008 | |
| 1917 | under 5 | 50 | #906 | |
| 1916 | under 5 | 52 | #881 | |
| 1915 | under 5 | 48 | #901 | |
| 1914 | under 5 | 41 | #851 | |
| 1913 | under 5 | 27 | #966 | |
| 1912 | under 5 | 22 | #989 | |
| 1911 | under 5 | 15 | #886 | |
| 1910 | under 5 | 26 | #565 | |
| 1909 | under 5 | 12 | #887 | |
| 1908 | under 5 | 15 | #706 | |
| 1907 | under 5 | 8 | #1,072 | |
| 1906 | under 5 | 8 | #982 | |
| 1905 | under 5 | 13 | #694 | |
| 1904 | under 5 | 11 | #753 | |
| 1903 | under 5 | 5 | #1,270 | |
| 1902 | under 5 | 12 | #678 | |
| 1901 | under 5 | 9 | #770 | |
| 1900 | under 5 | 10 | #890 | |
| 1899 | under 5 | 8 | #843 | |
| 1898 | under 5 | 9 | #791 | |
| 1897 | under 5 | 15 | #544 | |
| 1896 | under 5 | 8 | #883 | |
| 1895 | under 5 | 8 | #855 | |
| 1894 | under 5 | 9 | #775 | |
| 1893 | under 5 | 12 | #603 | |
| 1892 | under 5 | 11 | #675 | |
| 1891 | under 5 | 11 | #583 | |
| 1889 | under 5 | 16 | #479 | |
| 1888 | under 5 | 7 | #898 | |
| 1886 | under 5 | 10 | #637 | |
| 1885 | under 5 | 8 | #751 | |
| 1884 | under 5 | 10 | #647 | |
| 1883 | under 5 | 8 | #711 | |
| 1882 | under 5 | 8 | #742 | |
| 1881 | under 5 | 8 | #690 | |
| 1880 | under 5 | 6 | #889 |
Ranks: girls’ names and boys’ names ranked separately in each year’s SSA file; “under 5” is a year SSA did not list the name for that sex.
Is Reese a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 64,381 Americans recorded as Reese, 70% are girls and 30% boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Reese: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Reese, and how old are they?
61,700 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 96% of the 64,381 Americans ever recorded as Reese. The median Reese alive today is 14 years old; half are between 8 and 20.
The 2020 Census counted 48,829 people named Reese (33,925 women and girls, 14,904 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 49,806 born in the U.S. The Census count is 2% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 129 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 611 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 756 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 1,910 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 29,900 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 28,400 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Reese born?
The states with the most babies named Reese are Texas, California and Ohio, with 21% of its births recorded by state in 2025.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 191 | #233 | 0.8× |
| California | 131 | #291 | 0.6× |
| Ohio | 110 | #130 | 1.2× |
| Florida | 101 | #261 | 0.8× |
| Pennsylvania | 96 | #158 | 1.1× |
| New York | 88 | #254 | 0.5× |
| Illinois | 83 | #149 | 1.0× |
| Georgia | 76 | #184 | 0.9× |
| Michigan | 75 | #163 | 1.1× |
| North Carolina | 75 | #203 | 0.8× |
Where Reese is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Reese is most over-represented in Louisiana: since 1910 it was given 1.3 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Reese with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 6 names spelled alike, given to 68,210 babies since 1880, Reese is the most given (94% of them). In 2025 it was given to 2,106 of their 2,112 babies (100%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Reese
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
| Name | Recorded | 1880-2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Mykah | 2,491 |
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Reese and names like it
- Compare Reese and RessieBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2000sReese peaked in 2007.
- Texas’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Reese since 1910.
- From surnamesWiktionary’s origin for Reese: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 2007The year the most babies were named Reese.
- The names of Generation ZMost people named Reese alive today were born 1997-2012.
- Names starting with RMost given first.