Reid
Feminine · “red”
Reid is given to boys far more often — 40,791 boys against 992 girls since 1880. See Reid as a boy name
Reid is a Scottish surname meaning red-haired, and it is one of the commonest surnames in Scotland for a plainly demographic reason.
How old is the name Reid?
Reid first appears in US birth records in 1962 — 63 years ago. The typical Reid alive today was born around 2012, making them about 13 years old. About 1,000 people named Reid are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Reid most popular?
Reid peaked in 1994, reaching #3302 nationally. Today it ranks #4172, 870 places below that high. See the whole 1994 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From read to Reid
The story of Reid
Scotland has the highest proportion of red-haired people of any country, so a byname meaning red was going to be productive there — Reid is among the twenty commonest Scottish surnames. Read, Reade, Reed and Reid are all the same word, and the spellings settled by region and by whoever was writing. Its use as a given name is recent and is for both sexes.
Meaning
red, red-haired
From Middle English and Scots reid, red, used as a byname for someone with red hair or a ruddy complexion; the same word gives Read, Reade and Reed, all the same name spelled by different clerks.
How the name formed
- read
- reid
- Reid
Related forms: Reed · Read · Ó Maolruaidh
Pronouncing Reid
REED
One syllable. Reid, Reed and Read are said identically.
Nicknames for Reid
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
- 1962
- Most girls named
- 202043 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3302reached in 1994
- Change vs 2024
- +9.7%34 in 2025, from 31
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.
Reid in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Reed in English — spelling variant
- Read in English — spelling variant
- Ó Maolruaidh in Irish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Georgia, California.
Reids among us
people named Reid are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 47,273 born in 2025 was named Reid
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 Nickey test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Reid's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Nickey climbed just as high around 1957, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Nickey's path sketches the road Reid is walking now.
Reid 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
Where Reid is headed
Reid should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Reid beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Reid in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled and completely transparent meaning.
- Four letters and one syllable — as short as a name gets.
- Read correctly on sight by every English speaker.
- It is far more common for boys and she will correct assumptions.
- Reid, Reed and Read are said identically and constantly confused in writing.
- A one-syllable name gives no room for a nickname.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Reid
Feminine · #4172 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Reids are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Reid are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Reid in 2025?
- Reid ranks #4172 among US girl names in 2025, with 34 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Reid?
- About 1 in every 47,273 US girls born in 2025 was named Reid — 34 in all.
- Will my child share the name Reid with classmates?
- Reid will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Reid
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Roseanna#4172 · Elida#4172 · Neila#4172 · Savina#4172 · Kendyl#4172 · Zakiya#4172 · Naisha#4172 · Ethel#4172
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Reid? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Reid and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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