How rare is the name Forest?

7,663 people in the United States have the first name Forest, about 1 in 39,414. It ranks #2,945 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

FOREST

#2,945

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
7,663
About
1 in 39,414
This common or more
81.3%
Who bears it

Of the 7,663 people named Forest, 79.9% reported their origin as White, 7.5% as Black and 5.3% as two or more races. 96.2% are male. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Forest peaked in 2022, when 391 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
2022
Births that year
391
In 2025*
356 ▼9%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 18,377 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Forest by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1890s, when it ranked #612. The largest share of babies named Forest, 26.7%, were born between 1901 and 1927, the Greatest Generation's birth years.

1880s#673298
1890s#612538
1900s#708563
1910s#6722,223
1920s#7692,650
1930s#9821,509
1940s#1,2181,291
1950s#1,6341,050
1960s#2,051784
1970s#2,242783
1980s#2,470809
1990s#2,0311,543
2000s#4,472657
2010s#2,6891,495
2020s#1,4712,184
Before 19014.8%
Greatest Generation 1901–2726.7%
Silent Generation 1928–4515.1%
Baby boom 1946–6410.8%
Generation X 1965–806.8%
Millennials 1981–9610.6%
Generation Z 1997–126.5%
2013 and later18.7%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Forest is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Forest has been most common in West Virginia (3.6×), Kentucky (3.4×), and Oregon (2.6×), and least common in New York (0.19×).

10,725 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Forest

#2,943 Santino · 7,673#2,944 Mahmoud · 7,671#2,946 Millicent · 7,659#2,946 Moira · 7,659

Spelled almost the same

One first name in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Forest, most common first.

#1,350 Forrest · 26,456

Also a last name

As a last name, Forest ranks #6,676 of 156,621, with 4,862 people. See Forest as a last name

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