Head to head · Girls' names
Haven vs Reese
#190 vs #192 in 2025
Haven is a whisker ahead (#190 vs #192 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Haven is climbing the charts fast, Reese is stepping back from its peak.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Haven leads 4 measures of 6; Reese leads 2.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1920s: Haven #4398, Reese #4434 — Haven higher
- 1930s: Haven #4331, Reese — — Haven higher
- 1940s: Haven #4186, Reese — — Haven higher
- 1950s: Haven #4697, Reese #6245 — Haven higher
- 1960s: Haven #5655, Reese — — Haven higher
- 1970s: Haven #5036, Reese — — Haven higher
- 1980s: Haven #3788, Reese — — Haven higher
- 1990s: Haven #1681, Reese #5903 — Haven higher
- 2000s: Haven #632, Reese #355 — Reese higher
- 2010s: Haven #388, Reese #156 — Reese higher
- 2020s: Haven #249, Reese #170 — Reese higher
Haven stood higher in 8 of 11 decades; Reese has held the lead since the 2000s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Haven | Reese |
|---|---|---|
| 1920s | #4398 | #4434 |
| 1930s | #4331 | — |
| 1940s | #4186 | — |
| 1950s | #4697 | #6245 |
| 1960s | #5655 | — |
| 1970s | #5036 | — |
| 1980s | #3788 | — |
| 1990s | #1681 | #5903 |
| 2000s | #632 | #355 |
| 2010s | #388 | #156 |
| 2020s | #249 | #170 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Haven
harbor; a place of shelter or safety
The literal sense is the older one — a harbor or port. The figurative sense of refuge grew out of it in Middle English and is now the sense most speakers hear first.
hæfen (Old English) → haven → Haven
How it traveled
The root is Old English hæfen, a harbor or anchorage, kin to Dutch haven and German Hafen and to the -havn in Danish place names. Through the medieval period the word carried both meanings at once, the literal port and the shelter it offered, and English never lost either.
Reese
Ardor, enthusiasm; fiery zeal
The Welsh root rhys is usually glossed as ardor or enthusiasm, and often rendered in name books as "fiery" or "ardent".
Rhys → Rees → Reese
How it traveled
The name begins in Wales as Rhys, borne by princes of the medieval Welsh kingdoms and common enough among ordinary Welsh families that it hardened into surnames — Rees, Reese, Rice, and Preece, from ap Rhys, "son of Rhys". Those surnames crossed the Atlantic with Welsh emigrants and settled into American records, where Reese became the usual spelling.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Haven
HAY-vən
Stress on the first syllable, exactly like the English word. No competing pronunciation.
- Hav — Informal clipping heard within families; the name is short enough that most Havens use it in full, in every setting.
- Havie — Affectionate diminutive, mainly used with young children.
Reese
REESS
One syllable, rhyming with peace. The final sound is a hissed s, not a z; the same pronunciation covers Reece, Rees and Welsh Rhys.
- Reesie — Affectionate home form, mostly used with young children.
- Ree — Informal clipping; rare, since the full name is already one syllable.
- Rhys — Not a nickname but the Welsh original — some families use it as the formal written form.
Who has carried each name
Haven
No documented entry for Haven yet.
Reese
Reese Witherspoon (b. 1976) — Legally Blonde star turned Oscar winner and media mogul
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Haven if you want…
- a name on the way upup 122 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itHaven runs 2 syllables, Reese 1
Choose Reese if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsReese is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesReese is 1 syllable to Haven's 2
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Haven
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds and already known to every English speaker as a word — almost no one will need it repeated or clarified.
- Two clean syllables with a single stress pattern; no regional variants to correct.
- Documented in American birth records across many decades before its current rise, so it is a revival with a real paper trail.
To consider
- Haven and Heaven are one consonant apart, and people will sometimes mishear or misspell it that way. Most Havens learn a quick, cheerful correction early.
- This is a rising name, so a child born now may be the only one in the class while later classes hold two or three. That is a different experience from a name that has already peaked and settled.
- Boys with this spelling are a small minority. A son named Haven will meet the assumption that the name belongs to girls — worth knowing in advance rather than discovering at roll call.
Reese
Strengths
- One syllable, one clear sound — easy to say, easy to hear across a playground, and it needs no shortening.
- Instantly familiar to Americans as a word and a surname, so it is read correctly on sight even by people meeting it for the first time.
- A documented line back to medieval Welsh Rhys, which gives it real depth for families with Welsh roots.
To consider
- In the US, Reese is also the name of a very well-known peanut butter candy, spelled identically. Most children shrug it off, but expect the joke at some point.
- Four spellings compete — Reese, Reece, Rees, Rhys — so the name will often be spelled back to you wrong even when it is heard right.
- Most American Reeses are girls, so a boy called Reese may be assumed female on paperwork and rosters, even though the boys' line is the older one.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Haven
55%chance Haven feels dated by 2040
Haven is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
Reese
40%chance Reese feels dated by 2040
Reese sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Haven and Reese in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Haven and Reese?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap
More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Haven and Reese — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Haven or Reese — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Haven or Reese?
- Haven, in 2025: Haven ranked #190 with 1,642 babies; Reese ranked #192 with 1,631 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Haven or Reese?
- Haven. Over the last five years Haven moved up 122 places; Reese moved down 47 places.
- Which is the older name, Haven or Reese?
- Haven entered the US charts in 1920; Reese entered the US charts in 1924. On the American record, Haven is the older name.
- How many people are named Haven and Reese?
- About 22,500 people named Haven are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 44,500 people named Reese are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Havens or Reeses in the classroom?
- Haven will almost certainly be the only one in school. Reese will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Haven, Reese and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap