Head to head · Girls' names
Reina vs Reyna
#582 vs #594 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Reina is a whisker ahead (#582 vs #594 in 2025) and both are holding its place on the charts. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
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, Reina leads 5 measures of 6; Reyna leads 1.
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
- 1890s: Reina #1571, Reyna — — Reina higher
- 1910s: Reina #3603, Reyna #3187 — Reyna higher
- 1920s: Reina #3363, Reyna #3940 — Reina higher
- 1930s: Reina #2615, Reyna #3831 — Reina higher
- 1940s: Reina #2684, Reyna #3245 — Reina higher
- 1950s: Reina #2273, Reyna #2624 — Reina higher
- 1960s: Reina #1829, Reyna #2264 — Reina higher
- 1970s: Reina #1398, Reyna #1382 — Reyna higher
- 1980s: Reina #1105, Reyna #898 — Reyna higher
- 1990s: Reina #966, Reyna #653 — Reyna higher
- 2000s: Reina #912, Reyna #612 — Reyna higher
- 2010s: Reina #880, Reyna #691 — Reyna higher
- 2020s: Reina #600, Reyna #578 — Reyna higher
Reyna stood higher in 7 of 13 decades; Reyna has held the lead since the 1970s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Reina | Reyna |
|---|---|---|
| 1890s | #1571 | — |
| 1910s | #3603 | #3187 |
| 1920s | #3363 | #3940 |
| 1930s | #2615 | #3831 |
| 1940s | #2684 | #3245 |
| 1950s | #2273 | #2624 |
| 1960s | #1829 | #2264 |
| 1970s | #1398 | #1382 |
| 1980s | #1105 | #898 |
| 1990s | #966 | #653 |
| 2000s | #912 | #612 |
| 2010s | #880 | #691 |
| 2020s | #600 | #578 |
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
Reina
queen (Spanish)
In Spanish, reina is simply the everyday word for queen, from Latin regina — that reading is not in doubt. But the same spelling reaches English speakers by other roads. Reina (also spelled Rayna) is an established Yiddish name, and in Japanese Reina's meaning depends entirely on which kanji a family chooses, so no single translation covers it. Which meaning applies depends on which tradition the name came down through.
Regina → Reine → Reina
How it traveled
The Latin regina, queen, gave Romance languages their word and their name: Spanish reina, French reine, Italian and Latin Regina. Spanish is where the given name Reina is most at home, and Spanish-speaking families brought it into American records generations ago.
Reyna
Queen
From Spanish reina, itself from Latin regina, feminine of rex, 'king'. The y-spelling reflects older Spanish orthography, in which reyna was the standard written form.
Regina → Reina → Reyna
How it traveled
The root is Latin regina, the feminine of rex, which passed into Spanish as reina — spelled reyna in older texts, before Spanish standardized the i. As a given name it belongs to the same devotional family as Regina, long used in Catholic Europe in reference to Mary as queen of heaven, and it was also carried by Sephardic Jewish families, for whom Reina was a familiar women's name in Judeo-Spanish.
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
Reina
RAY-nah
RAY-nah in Spanish and in Japanese alike. Some English speakers reach for REE-nah on first sight, reading it as a cousin of Rena or Nina, so expect to correct that occasionally.
- Rei — The simplest clipping; also used on its own as a given name in Japanese.
- Reinita — Spanish diminutive, affectionate and family-level rather than official.
- Rey — Informal shortening in English-speaking settings; note that rey is the Spanish word for king.
- Nina — A playful household nickname drawn from the second syllable, not a formal short form.
Reyna
RAY-nah
Two syllables, stress on the first. In Spanish the first syllable is a clean ay diphthong; English speakers usually land on the same sound without being told. Occasional first-guesses of REE-nah happen but are easily corrected.
- Rey — The most common short form; also stands alone as a given name in its own right.
- Rey-Rey — Family and childhood use rather than anything official.
- Reyni — An informal diminutive, more often spoken than written.
One short form, two names
- Reina and Reyna both shorten to Rey.
Short forms as recorded on each name’s own page. This is here so it is a decision rather than a discovery.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Reina if you want…
- a name most people already know#582 in 2025, 510 babies that year
- a name on the way upup 9 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itReina runs 3 syllables, Reyna 2
Choose Reyna if you want…
- a name fewer children share#594 in 2025 — reyna will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name holding steadyReyna is holding its place on the charts
- a name with fewer syllablesReyna is 2 syllables to Reina's 3
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
Reina
Strengths
- Four letters, two syllables, phonetic in Spanish — anyone who speaks the language reads and spells it at a glance.
- Works unchanged in Spanish, English and Japanese, with no adjustment needed when crossing between them.
- On record in the United States across many generations, so it is neither novel nor tied to one moment of fashion.
To consider
- Two live pronunciations, RAY-nah and REE-nah, and the wrong one is an easy first guess for English speakers. Most families settle it with a single friendly correction, but it repeats.
- Reyna is a common alternate spelling in the US, and Raina, Rayna and Rena all sit nearby. Expect forms and rosters to arrive spelled some other way now and then.
- To anyone who speaks Spanish, the name reads as the plain word "queen" — not a hidden etymology but an everyday noun. Some families love that transparency; others find it more declarative than they want.
Reyna
Strengths
- Reads correctly on sight for most English and Spanish speakers alike — two syllables, no silent letters, no hidden stress.
- The meaning is transparent rather than reconstructed: anyone who speaks Spanish knows the word.
- Belongs to a large documented family — Regina, Reina, Reine — so it has relatives in several languages.
To consider
- Reina and Reyna are both live spellings, so expect to specify which one, often more than once. Neither is a misspelling of the other, which is exactly why forms and teachers will guess.
- It sits close to Rayna and Raina, names with different roots, and the three get mixed up in writing.
- 'Queen' is a plain, legible meaning to a great many people, not a buried etymology — worth knowing that it will occasionally be remarked on out loud.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
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 Reina and Reyna 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 Reina and Reyna?
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.
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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 these names appear on
Where Reina and Reyna each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Reina or Reyna — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Reina or Reyna?
- Reina, in 2025: Reina ranked #582 with 510 babies; Reyna ranked #594 with 493 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Reina or Reyna?
- Reina. Over the last five years Reina moved up 9 places; Reyna moved down 5 places.
- Which is the older name, Reina or Reyna?
- Reina entered the US charts in 1896; Reyna entered the US charts in 1913. On the American record, Reina is the older name.
- How many people are named Reina and Reyna?
- About 13,500 people named Reina are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 18,500 people named Reyna are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Do Reina and Reyna share a nickname?
- Yes — both shorten to Rey, so in a house with both names the short form would not say which child is meant.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
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