Reed

Meaning: Red
Origin: English surname — From a nickname for a red-haired person

Boy's name · #419 in the US (2025) · Trending

Popularity over time

Reed is climbing: on the charts since 1881, it is ranked #419 in 2025, with about 770 boys given the name last year. Roughly 36,000 have carried it all-time.

Across the states

See where Reed is more common.

Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 43 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.

Around the world

See how Reed ranks in other countries and regions.

#1,127 in Canada (2025) · #2,440 in England & Wales (2025) · #728 in Scotland (2023) · #8,248 in Ecuador (2018) · #710 in Ireland (2017) · #338 in New Zealand (2015) · #5,985 in France (2012).

Famous Reeds

Reed Hastings — American entrepreneur and education philanthropist (born 1960)
Reed Diamond — American actor (born 1967)
Reed Sheppard — American basketball player (born 2004)
Reed Birney — American actor (born 1954)
Reed Jobs — American venture capitalist (born 1991)

As a surname

It is also an American family name — about 277,000 people carried it as a surname in the 2010 census.

Lou Reed — American rock musician (1942–2013)
Donna Reed — American actress (1921–1986)
John Reed — American journalist, poet, and activist (1887–1920)

In stories & tradition

Reed (Mister Fantastic) — Marvel Comics superhero
Reed Richards — The Fantastic Four: First Steps (film)
Reed Garrett — CSI: NY (TV series)

What Reeds become

Among 184 notable people named Reed:

Sports figures appear 1.72× more often than among typical names — e.g. Reed Sheppard, American basketball player (born 2004).

Spellings & nicknames

Together with its spelling variant Reid (#293), Reed would rank around #190 with about 1,900 births last year — the newborns split about 60/40 between Reid and Reed.

Similar names: Reid · Hank · Rio · Cade · Creed · Rylan

Browse more boy names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.

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