Forrest

About Forrest

Forrest began as a surname for someone who lived near a forest. As a first name, it combines that landscape connection with a particularly recognizable film character: Forrest Gump. The double r distinguishes it from Forest, another spelling used as a given name, but the two share the same underlying word.

Meaning and origin

The English surname Forrest means “forest” and originally described where a person lived.

In American history, some use of the name honored Nathan Bedford Forrest, the Confederate general who lived from 1821 to 1877. That is one documented naming association alongside the surname’s ordinary landscape origin. More recent recognition has been strongly shaped by the fictional Forrest Gump.

Pronunciation and spelling

Forrest is pronounced FOR-ist in English, with two syllables and stress on the first. The vowel varies between American and British accents, as it does in the ordinary word “forest.”

Forest is the closest related spelling.

Forrest Gump

The character first appeared in Winston Groom’s novel Forrest Gump, which inspired the movie. The book follows him through football at the University of Alabama, military service, table tennis, wrestling, and business. Its comic journey crosses three decades of American history.

The title character of Forrest Gump, released in 1994, is played by Tom Hanks. His story passes through a succession of American events and settings, bringing a fictional life into contact with recognizable public history.

Forrest serves in Vietnam, plays table tennis against China’s national team, enters the shrimping business, and eventually runs repeatedly across the United States. The film also places him alongside presidents and other historical figures through visual effects. These episodes make the character’s full name unusually memorable: it accompanies a journey across several different parts of American life.

Sally Field plays Forrest’s mother, Gary Sinise his commanding officer, and Mykelti Williamson his Army friend. The relationships surrounding Forrest give the film a personal story alongside its large historical backdrop.

At the 1995 Academy Awards, Hanks won Actor in a Leading Role for the performance, and Robert Zemeckis won the directing award. The ceremony took place the year after the film’s release. The name’s strongest American birth-count year was also 1994, although it had been used long before the movie.

Popularity in the United States

Forrest’s highest annual total was 1,343 boys in 1994. Its best rank was much earlier, at No. 173 in 1913. That difference reflects how a name’s raw birth count and its position among other names can peak in different eras.

In 1950, Forrest ranked No. 321 with 458 boys. It fell to 162 boys and No. 1,144 in 2010, then gained ground again. In 2025, 850 boys received the spelling, placing it at No. 374.

How popular is Forrest?

In 2025, Forrest ranked #374 among boys in the United States, with 850 recorded uses. The U.S. birth records first list this spelling for boys in 1880; its largest annual count was 1,343 in 1994. Rankings count each spelling separately. They describe national use, so local familiarity can differ. The popularity chart shows whether the name has remained common, returned after a quieter period, or risen recently.