How Many People Are Named Reed?
An estimated 31,143 people in the United States have the first name Reed. It is predominantly male (97.5%). The average bearer is 27 years old, and Reed peaked in popularity in 2014 with 1,122 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Reed as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Reed paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Reed is overwhelmingly male, 907 female births have been registered with this name since 1880.
Estimated Living Americans
31,143
About 1 in 11,006 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Male
97.5% confidence
Average Age
27
years old
Peak Year
2014
1,122 births
Total Registered
36,191
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Reed
Reed is predominantly male (97.5%), though 907 female births have been registered. It functions as a unisex name for a small percentage of bearers.
Reed as a male name
Ranked #421 in 2024
744 male births in 2024
Peak: 2014 (1,096 births)
Reed as a female name
Ranked #5,736 in 2024
22 female births in 2024
Peak: 1996 (51 births)
Reed: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Reed span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 2010s, when 9,304 babies were registered. While Reed is less common than at its peak in the 2010s, it remains a well-established name with steady registrations.
Reed by Decade
How has Reed tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 76 | 76 | 0 | |
| 1890s | 137 | 137 | 0 | |
| 1900s | 175 | 175 | 0 | |
| 1910s | 790 | 790 | 0 | |
| 1920s | 1,232 | 1,227 | 5 | |
| 1930s | 876 | 871 | 5 | |
| 1940s | 1,385 | 1,385 | 0 | |
| 1950s | 2,494 | 2,494 | 0 | |
| 1960s | 1,706 | 1,696 | 10 | |
| 1970s | 1,461 | 1,455 | 6 | |
| 1980s | 2,241 | 2,206 | 35 | |
| 1990s | 4,745 | 4,495 | 250 | |
| 2000s | 5,800 | 5,618 | 182 | |
| 2010s | 9,304 | 9,013 | 291 | |
| 2020s | 3,769 | 3,646 | 123 | |
Reed by State
Birth registrations for Reed span all 50 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in California, Texas, Pennsylvania. The lowest are in Vermont, Delaware, Wyoming. On average, about 590 Reeds were registered per state.
Reed + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Reed as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Reed
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
Reed: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Reed?
We estimate approximately 31,143 people named Reed are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 11,006 Americans share this first name.
Is Reed a common name?
Reed is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 98.8% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 36,191 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Reed most popular?
Reed reached peak popularity in 2014, when 1,122 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Reed is approximately 27 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Reed a male name?
Reed is predominantly male. 97.5% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Reed Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Reed Smith, Reed Johnson, Reed Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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