How Many People Are Named Reef?
An estimated 1,279 people in the United States have the first name Reef. It is predominantly male (95.7%). The average bearer is 12 years old, and Reef peaked in popularity in 2021 with 89 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Reef 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 Reef paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Reef is overwhelmingly male, 56 female births have been registered with this name since 1880.
- Reef is a modern name. With an average bearer age of just 12, it has gained most of its popularity in recent years.
Estimated Living Americans
1,279
About 1 in 267,986 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Rare
Predicted Gender
Male
95.7% confidence
Average Age
12
years old
Peak Year
2021
89 births
Total Registered
1,290
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Reef
Reef is predominantly male (95.7%), though 56 female births have been registered. It functions as a unisex name for a small percentage of bearers.
Reef as a male name
Ranked #2,584 in 2024
52 male births in 2024
Peak: 2021 (81 births)
Reef as a female name
Ranked #10,074 in 2024
10 female births in 2024
Peak: 2024 (10 births)
Reef: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Reef span from the 1990s to the 2020s, covering 4 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 2010s, when 598 babies were registered. While Reef is less common than at its peak in the 2010s, it remains a well-established name with steady registrations.
Reef by Decade
How has Reef 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.
Reef by State
Birth registrations for Reef span all 5 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in California, Florida, Hawaii. The lowest are in North Carolina, Texas, Hawaii. On average, about 151 Reefs were registered per state.
Reef + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Reef as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Reef
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
Reef: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Reef?
We estimate approximately 1,279 people named Reef 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 267,986 Americans share this first name.
Is Reef a common name?
Reef is classified as "Rare" and is more popular than 91.6% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 1,290 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Reef most popular?
Reef reached peak popularity in 2021, when 89 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Reef is approximately 12 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Reef a male name?
Reef is predominantly male. 95.7% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Reef Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Reef Smith, Reef Johnson, Reef 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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