Boys' name · peaked in 2014
Reed name popularity since 1925
35,166 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Reed (2.6% girls, 97.4% boys). Half of them were born in 2004 or earlier, so the typical Reed is about 22 years old in 2026. Reed peaked in 2014 as the #318 name for boys, and it ranked #419 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 35,166
- Named Reed, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- #419
- for boys in 2025 (770 babies)
- Girls / boys
- 97.4% boys
- 916 girls · 34,250 boys
- Most popular in
- Utah
- 4.76× its national share
Peak year is the year Reed made up the largest share of US boys, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Reed births per year, 1925–2025
2014 was the biggest year for Reed both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Steepest fall: Between 1956 and 1961, Reed's share of baby boys fell by 37%, from 1 in 7,500 to 1 in 11,900.
- Fastest rise: Between 1990 and 1995, it became 2.5× more common, from 1 in 8,630 baby boys to 1 in 3,460.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Reed's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Reed.
Decade by decade
Babies named Reed in each decade, and its rank among boys' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 0 | 599 | – |
| 1930s | 5 | 871 | #667 |
| 1940s | 0 | 1,385 | #575 |
| 1950s | 0 | 2,494 | #451 |
| 1960s | 10 | 1,696 | #612 |
| 1970s | 6 | 1,452 | #732 |
| 1980s | 35 | 2,206 | #579 |
| 1990s | 250 | 4,495 | #414 |
| 2000s | 182 | 5,618 | #473 |
| 2010s | 291 | 9,014 | #331 |
| 2020–25 | 137 | 4,420 | #419 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
32.4% of babies named Reed from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Gen Alpha years (2013–2025). The full split by generation:
Where Reed is most popular
The index compares Reed's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Reed.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Utah | 4.76× | 1,207 |
| Idaho | 3.15× | 374 |
| Minnesota | 2.47× | 1,343 |
| Oregon | 1.99× | 555 |
| Washington | 1.56× | 777 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Reed's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Reed.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Reed (2014).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data