# Reese (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/reese/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys and girls |
| Origin | Welsh |
| Meaning | “ardor”, “giant” |
| Pronunciation | /ɹis/, 1 syllable |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 64,381 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 19,606 / 44,775 (70% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 890, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

* 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”).

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 2,381 | 131 |
| 2012 | 2,459 | 128 |
| 2013 | 2,061 | 156 |
| 2014 | 1,972 | 165 |
| 2015 | 1,859 | 172 |
| 2016 | 1,823 | 180 |
| 2017 | 1,754 | 171 |
| 2018 | 1,792 | 159 |
| 2019 | 1,816 | 159 |
| 2020 | 1,878 | 146 |
| 2021 | 1,890 | 148 |
| 2022 | 1,728 | 168 |
| 2023 | 1,667 | 174 |
| 2024 | 1,592 | 190 |
| 2025 | 1,631 | 192 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 471 | 543 |
| 2012 | 476 | 548 |
| 2013 | 421 | 604 |
| 2014 | 407 | 648 |
| 2015 | 358 | 703 |
| 2016 | 384 | 673 |
| 2017 | 362 | 689 |
| 2018 | 384 | 660 |
| 2019 | 312 | 762 |
| 2020 | 336 | 733 |
| 2021 | 375 | 703 |
| 2022 | 428 | 647 |
| 2023 | 439 | 632 |
| 2024 | 456 | 621 |
| 2025 | 475 | 603 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 17 | 1,665 |
| 2012 | 22 | 1,428 |
| 2013 | 13 | 2,062 |
| 2014 | 13 | 2,058 |
| 2015 | 14 | 1,961 |
| 2016 | 9 | 2,757 |
| 2017 | 12 | 2,201 |
| 2018 | 12 | 2,187 |
| 2019 | 15 | 1,854 |
| 2020 | 20 | 1,507 |
| 2021 | 15 | 1,866 |
| 2022 | 9 | 2,673 |
| 2023 | 13 | 2,063 |
| 2024 | 15 | 1,894 |
| 2025 | 15 | 1,892 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 21 | 1,175 |
| 2010 | 20 | 1,241 |
| 2011 | 11 | 1,909 |
| 2012 | 16 | 1,507 |
| 2013 | 8 | 2,403 |
| 2014 | 8 | 2,459 |
| 2015 | 9 | 2,319 |
| 2016 | 11 | 2,027 |
| 2017 | 3 | 4,812 |
| 2018 | 6 | 3,011 |
| 2019 | 6 | 3,013 |
| 2021 | 5 | 3,451 |
| 2022 | 4 | 4,001 |
| 2024 | 3 | 5,119 |
| 2025 | 3 | 5,137 |

## People named Reese

- Reese Witherspoon, American actress (born 1976)
- Reese Hoffa, American shot putter
- Philip Reese Uhler, American entomologist and librarian (1835-1913)
- Jaedyn Shaw, American soccer player
- Bill Perkins, American jazz musician (1924–2003)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.