How rare is the name Rey?

11,635 people in the United States have the first name Rey, about 1 in 25,959. It ranks #2,240 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

REY

#2,240

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
11,635
About
1 in 25,959
This common or more
79.1%
Who bears it

Of the 11,635 people named Rey, 75.2% reported their origin as Hispanic or Latino, 14.7% as Asian or Pacific Islander and 6.9% as White. 95.7% are male. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Rey peaked in 2021, when 394 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
19152025
Peak year
2021
Births that year
394
In 2025*
286 ▼27%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 10,222 babies have been given the name since 1915. 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.

Rey by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 2020s, when it ranked #1,534. The largest share of babies named Rey, 41%, were born in 2013 or later.

1910s#7,48727
1920s#5,97582
1930s#4,84895
1940s#4,299134
1950s#3,199297
1960s#2,789441
1970s#2,948506
1980s#2,845659
1990s#2,4641,148
2000s#2,0841,955
2010s#1,7552,810
2020s#1,5342,068
Greatest Generation 1901–270.8%
Silent Generation 1928–451.8%
Baby boom 1946–646.1%
Generation X 1965–807.2%
Millennials 1981–9613.3%
Generation Z 1997–1229.8%
2013 and later41%

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 Rey is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Rey has been most common in Texas (4.3×), Arizona (4.1×), and California (3.3×), and least common in Indiana (0.17×).

7,397 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 Rey

#2,238 Christin · 11,676#2,239 Ollie · 11,653#2,241 Dorothea · 11,625#2,242 Lizette · 11,619

Spelled almost the same

6 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Rey, most common first.

#8,434 Rea · 1,718#9,208 Reya · 1,527#10,552 Rei · 1,255#11,498 Re · 1,111#15,259 Ree · 757#17,966 Reo · 605

Also a last name

As a last name, Rey ranks #4,216 of 156,621, with 8,147 people. See Rey as a last name

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