Reis
Masculine · “Arabic "head”
Reis is given to both — 812 boys and 121 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Arabic raʾs means a head, and the word has become a title across half the world. Ras Tafari — from which Rastafarian comes — carried the Ethiopian rank of ras; Ras al-Khaimah is a headland; and Turkish reis, a captain or chief, is the same word.
How old is the name Reis?
Reis first appears in US birth records in 1982 — 43 years ago. The typical Reis alive today was born around 2006, making them about 19 years old. About 800 people named Reis are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Reis most popular?
Reis peaked in 2000, reaching #2196 nationally. Today it ranks #7679, 5,483 places below that high. See the whole 2000 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From raʾs to Reis
The story of Reis
Head-words become rank-words in most languages — English has head of state, chief from Latin caput, and capital from the same root. Arabic raʾs went further than most: it produced raʾīs, a president or chief, now the ordinary Arabic word for a head of state; the Ottoman naval rank reis; the Ethiopian ras, a duke or governor; and, through Ras Tafari Makonnen's title before he became Haile Selassie in 1930, the name of a religious movement in Jamaica. Portuguese Reis traveled a different route entirely, from the Epiphany kings. The American figures peak in 2000.
Meaningscholars disagree
Arabic "head, chief"; separately Portuguese "kings"
Two unrelated sources. Turkish and Arabic reis or raʾīs, a chief or captain, is from raʾs, a head — the root behind the Ethiopian title ras and the place name Ras al-Khaimah. Separately, Portuguese Reis is a surname meaning kings, from the feast of the Three Kings at Epiphany, one of a set of devotional Portuguese surnames alongside Santos and Cruz. The record does not distinguish which lies behind an American bearer.
How the name formed
- raʾs
- raʾīs
- Reis
Related forms: Reis · Reis · رئيس
Pronouncing Reis
rays
One syllable in American use, rhyming with days. Portuguese says HAYSH with a breathy r and a sh at the end; Turkish says reh-EES with two syllables. All three are in circulation.
Nicknames for Reis
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
- 1982
- Most boys named
- 200045 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2196reached in 2000
- Change vs 2024
- −23.1%10 in 2025, from 13
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.
Reis in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Reis in Turkish — same name
- Reis in Portuguese — related form
- رئيس in Arabic — transliteration
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York.
Reiss among us
people named Reis are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 170,808 born in 2025 was named Reis
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 Harlis test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Reis's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Harlis climbed just as high around 1937, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Harlis's path sketches the road Reis is walking now.
Reis 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
Reis beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Reis in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It is short, four letters, and easy to write in any language.
- Both possible sources have settled and dignified meanings.
- Ray works as an immediate English-facing short form.
- Three different pronunciations are in use across the languages that have it.
- Two unrelated origins share the spelling.
- It is far more often a surname than a given name.
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Reis
Masculine · #7679 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Reiss are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 800 people named Reis are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Reis in 2025?
- Reis ranks #7679 among US boy names in 2025, with 10 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Reis?
- About 1 in every 170,808 US boys born in 2025 was named Reis — 10 in all.
- Will my child share the name Reis with classmates?
- Reis will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Reis
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Early#7679 · Obie#7679 · Huston#7679 · Knute#7679 · Rance#7679 · Blain#7679 · Doyle#7679 · Millard#7679
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Reis? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Reis and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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