Head to head · Boys' names
Remy vs Rhys
#408 vs #410 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Remy is a whisker ahead (#408 vs #410 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
The tape is even: Remy and Rhys each lead 3 measures of 6.
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
- 1910s: Remy #3154, Rhys — — Remy higher
- 1920s: Remy #3387, Rhys #2980 — Rhys higher
- 1930s: Remy #3662, Rhys — — Remy higher
- 1940s: Remy #3370, Rhys #3127 — Rhys higher
- 1950s: Remy #2905, Rhys #2667 — Rhys higher
- 1960s: Remy #2821, Rhys #2598 — Rhys higher
- 1970s: Remy #3437, Rhys #3891 — Remy higher
- 1980s: Remy #2099, Rhys #1931 — Rhys higher
- 1990s: Remy #1470, Rhys #1494 — Remy higher
- 2000s: Remy #1297, Rhys #908 — Rhys higher
- 2010s: Remy #629, Rhys #479 — Rhys higher
- 2020s: Remy #378, Rhys #395 — Remy higher
Rhys stood higher in 7 of 12 decades; Remy took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Remy | Rhys |
|---|---|---|
| 1910s | #3154 | — |
| 1920s | #3387 | #2980 |
| 1930s | #3662 | — |
| 1940s | #3370 | #3127 |
| 1950s | #2905 | #2667 |
| 1960s | #2821 | #2598 |
| 1970s | #3437 | #3891 |
| 1980s | #2099 | #1931 |
| 1990s | #1470 | #1494 |
| 2000s | #1297 | #908 |
| 2010s | #629 | #479 |
| 2020s | #378 | #395 |
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
Remy
oarsman, rower
From Latin Remigius, built on remex, remigis — the man at the oar. The saint's fame in Gaul, not the word itself, is what carried the name forward.
Remigius → Rémi → Rémy → Remy
How it traveled
The Latin Remigius belonged most famously to the bishop of Reims who died around 533 and who baptized the Frankish king Clovis, an event that anchored the name in northern France for good. Medieval French wore it down to Rémi and Rémy, and the accent-free Remy is simply what the name looks like once English gets hold of it.
Rhys
ardor, enthusiasm
The Old Welsh root is usually glossed as ardor or zeal; older reference books sometimes render it more loosely as "fiery" or "rashness", but they are describing the same word.
Ris → Rhys → Rees → Reece → Reese
How it traveled
Rhys comes from Old Welsh Ris and belongs to the oldest layer of Welsh personal names, the kind recorded in medieval genealogies and princely charters. Its most famous medieval bearer was Rhys ap Gruffydd, the Lord Rhys, who ruled Deheubarth in the twelfth century and held the earliest recorded eisteddfod at Cardigan.
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
Remy
REM-ee
Standard in American English, stress on the first syllable. The French Rémy is ray-MEE, with the stress at the back — worth deciding which one you want before the name is handed to a room full of relatives.
- Rem — The obvious clipped form; used informally and rarely written on anything official.
- Remmy — A doubled-consonant spelling used affectionately, mostly by family.
- Rey — Occasional, and stands on its own as a given name elsewhere.
Rhys
REESS
Rhymes with peace, not with rice or rise. In Welsh the opening rh is a breathy, voiceless r, but English speakers say it as a plain r and no one in Wales minds.
- Reece — Not a shortening but the anglicized spelling; some families use it as the informal or written-out-for-strangers version.
- Rhysie — A family diminutive heard mainly with small children; rarely used outside the household.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Remy if you want…
- a name holding steadyRemy is holding its place on the charts
- a name with more sound in itRemy runs 2 syllables, Rhys 1
Choose Rhys if you want…
- a name on the way upup 8 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesRhys is 1 syllable to Remy'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
Remy
Strengths
- Two syllables, five letters, and spelled the way an English speaker hears it — no accent to lose in forms and databases.
- Works for a girl or a boy without either use looking like a mistake, since American records carry both.
- A documented line running back to late-antique Gaul, with living forms in French, Italian, Spanish and Polish.
To consider
- Two pronunciations compete: the English REM-ee and the French ray-MEE. Both are correct for the name, so expect to correct people occasionally, and expect the correction to be easy.
- Rémy Martin cognac and the cooking rat in Pixar's Ratatouille are the two associations most Americans reach for first. Neither is a problem, but you will hear about them.
- The spelling splits three ways — Remy, Remi, Rémy — so the name will sometimes be written back to you in a form you didn't choose.
Rhys
Strengths
- One syllable, one clear sound — once someone has heard it, they can say it.
- The pronunciation is already familiar in the US through the Reese and Reece spellings, so the sound needs no explaining, only the letters.
- Documented in Wales since the early medieval period and continuously in use there ever since.
To consider
- The spelling gets misread on sight — "Rise" and "Riss" are the usual guesses — so he will spell it aloud fairly often. Most people only need telling once.
- Heard rather than seen, it can be taken for Reese, which in the US is given largely to girls. The Rhys spelling itself is used almost entirely for boys.
- There is essentially no short form. A one-syllable name gives nicknames nowhere to go, which suits some families and frustrates others.
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 Remy and Rhys 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 Remy and Rhys?
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
- Borrowed from the girls: names boys are taking back
- French names with effortless chic
- Disney names on real birth certificates
- Superhero names, secret identities included
- all guides
Where Remy and Rhys each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Remy or Rhys — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Remy or Rhys?
- Remy, in 2025: Remy ranked #408 with 781 babies; Rhys ranked #410 with 778 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Remy or Rhys?
- Rhys. Over the last five years Remy moved down 52 places; Rhys moved up 8 places.
- Which is the older name, Remy or Rhys?
- Remy entered the US charts in 1914; Rhys entered the US charts in 1929. On the American record, Remy is the older name.
- How many people are named Remy and Rhys?
- About 12,500 people named Remy are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 14,000 people named Rhys are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Remys or Rhyss in the classroom?
- Remy will almost certainly be the only one in school. Rhys 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 Remy, Rhys and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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