Regis
Masculine · “Latin regis”
Regis is given to both — 5,193 boys and 343 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
The Indo-European root behind king does not mean to command. It means to move in a straight line. Reg- gives Latin rex, regere to rule, regula a ruler, rectus straight, and English right, direct and correct. A king was, at the root, the one who makes things straight.
How old is the name Regis?
Regis first appears in US birth records in 1897 — 128 years ago. The typical Regis alive today was born around 1949, making them about 76 years old. About 2,600 people named Regis are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Regis most popular?
Regis peaked in 1917, reaching #599 nationally. Today it ranks #8910, 8,311 places below that high. See the whole 1917 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From rex to Regis
The story of Regis
The root reg- is one of the best attested in Indo-European and its spread is instructive. In Latin it gives rex and regina, regere to direct, rectus straight, regula a measuring stick and hence a rule, and regio a direction and then a region. In Germanic it gives right, in the sense of both correct and the opposite of left, and the word for a realm, reich. In Celtic it gives rix, a king, seen in Vercingetorix. In Sanskrit it gives raj. The semantic core in all of them is straightness, and the connection to rule is that a ruler directs, sets straight and lays down what is correct. English retains an unusually large share of the family, since it inherited right natively and borrowed rex, regal, regular, rectify, direct, erect, correct and address from Latin on top.
Meaning
Latin regis, of the king
Regis is the Latin genitive of rex, king, meaning of the king. It became a given name through St John Francis Regis, a French Jesuit missionary who died in 1640 and was canonized in 1737, whose surname it was. The word survives in English institutional usage in the Regius professorships founded by Henry VIII. The American peak is 1917.
How the name formed
- rex
- regis
- Regis
Related forms: Regis · Regis
Pronouncing Regis
REE-jis
Two syllables, stress on the first. French says ray-ZHEE with the s silent. Latin says REH-gis with a hard g. All three are heard.
Nicknames for Regis
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1897
- Most boys named
- 194988 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #599reached in 1917
- Change vs 2022
- +14.3%8 in 2025, from 7
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Regis in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Regis in French — same name
- Regis in Latin — same name
Regiss among us
people named Regis are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 213,510 born in 2025 was named Regis
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Ellwood test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Regis's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Ellwood climbed just as high around 1901, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Ellwood's path sketches the road Regis is walking now.
Regis 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 scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Regis beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Regis in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Reg and Reggie are both established short forms.
- The meaning is transparent to anyone with Latin.
- Two syllables with a firm first-syllable stress.
- French, Latin and English say it three different ways.
- It is a grammatical case form rather than a nominative.
- One American broadcaster dominates recognition of the name.
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Regis
Masculine · #8910 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Regiss are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,600 people named Regis are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Regis in 2025?
- Regis ranks #8910 among US boy names in 2025, with 8 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Regis?
- About 1 in every 213,510 US boys born in 2025 was named Regis — 8 in all.
- Will my child share the name Regis with classmates?
- Regis will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Regis
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Davie#8910 · Ned#8910 · Darious#8910 · Alois#8910 · Len#8910 · Barton#8910 · Desmon#8910 · Winfield#8910
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Regis? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Regis and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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