Name Awesome

Rey

#908 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

King

Rey has been given to 10,222 babies in the U.S. since 1915. In 2025 it ranked #908 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2021, with 328 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 95% boys, 5% girls all-time.

Babies named Rey, 2025

1 in 12,700

Rey over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
010020030040018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Rey over time

In 2025, Rey went to 8% girls and 92% boys.

19152025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Rey: meaning, origin, and history

King

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Rey means

Rey means “king”, associated with rey.

Origin, language, and formation

Rey is used in Spanish.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Spanish, Rey is pronounced /ˈrei/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 9,696 boys were recorded with the name Rey between 1915 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 328 in 2021; its best national rank was #755 in 2018.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #880 in 2020 to #908 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #900 in 2015 to #908 in 2025.

In the United States, 526 girls were recorded with the name Rey between 2016 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 85 in 2020; its best national rank was #2,148 in 2020.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #2,148 in 2020 to #5,364 in 2025.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Rey?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 12,700
262 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 6,520
0.02% of boys
Rank, 2025
#908
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
8,772 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Rey sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 5004%

Put another way: gather 8,772 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Rey. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Reys were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Rey was born before 2007 — so the typical Rey is around 18 today.

Median birth year
2007
About 18 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
26.4% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
63.5%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
9,358
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 26.4% of all recorded uses (2,563).

Is Rey rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
−85
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−28
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−8
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
1.08×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
79.9%
Peak was 2021 (328)
Years since peak
4
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Steady
9.1% average annual change
Best rank ever
#755
2018

Where Rey is used — boys

Across 2016–2025, Rey was most concentrated in California — about 1 in 2,326 boys, against 1 in 5,070 across all states with data. It was least common in Ohio (1 in 100,000).

143 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in 2,326
  2. 2Arizona1 in 2,381
  3. 3Texas1 in 2,564
  4. 4Nevada1 in 4,762
  5. 5Colorado1 in 5,556
  6. 6Florida1 in 5,556
  7. 7Illinois1 in 5,882
  8. 8New Mexico1 in 5,882

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Geographically, Rey is one of the more regionally concentrated names in the country — more concentrated than 95% of the names used widely enough to compare. See the most regional names

Where Rey is used — girls

Across 1910–2025, Rey was most concentrated in California — about 1 in 100,000 girls, against 1 in 403,107 across all states with data. It was least common in Washington (1 in —).

01 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in 100,000
  2. 2Illinois1 in —
  3. 3Michigan1 in —
  4. 4Ohio1 in —
  5. 5Texas1 in —
  6. 6Utah1 in —
  7. 7Washington1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Rey has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Rey around the world

Where Rey ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    2005–2025
    #2,952
    in 2025
  • Northern Ireland
    2017–2017
    #415
    in 2017
  • France
    2016–2018
    #6,669
    in 2018
  • Canada
    2009–2024
    #2,550
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    2007–2008
    #726
    in 2008

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NISRA data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Notable people named Rey

People whose public names include Rey, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Rey in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Rey. Linked forms have their own page here.

RayReymond

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Rey by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#908
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 28
Best rank ever
#755
2018
Peak year
2021
328 that year
First recorded
1915
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
9,696
Count in 2025
262

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#5,364
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 3,216
Best rank ever
#2,148
2020
Peak year
2020
85 that year
First recorded
2016
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
526
Count in 2025
24

Names similar to Rey

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

ReyesGreyKoreyCareyTreyReynoldReyliToreyReyanReyanshTorreyReynReynaldoReymundoAubreyAndreyDreyShreyReyaanDareyGodfreyReynoldsReydenReymond

Names with a curve like Rey

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Rey, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

FrancoChaimVincenzoAndersBlaiseValentinSamirYosefEliezerMordechaiYehudaYisroel

Sibling names for Rey

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Rey

Top names of 2021, Rey's peak yearThe 2020s in fullOther names that peaked in 2018Boys' names starting with RMovie & TV NamesShort Spanish Boy Names