Ren
Feminine · “lotus”
Ren is given to both — 816 girls and 2,818 boys since 1880. See Ren as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Ren is a lotus in Japanese and love in Chinese — and the written character decides which, because the sound alone does not.
How old is the name Ren?
Ren first appears in US birth records in 1983 — 42 years ago. The typical Ren is a kid of about 4 — this name's wave is very recent. About 800 people named Ren are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Ren most popular?
Ren peaked in 2023, reaching #2156 nationally. Today it ranks #2173, 17 places below that high. See the whole 2023 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From 蓮 to Ren
The story of Ren
Ren in Confucian thought is the virtue the Analects returns to more than any other, usually translated benevolence or humaneness and defined differently every time it is asked about. Japanese Ren with the lotus character has been among the top boys' names in Japan for two decades. Ren appears in American records for both sexes in current use.
Meaning
lotus; love, benevolence
Japanese Ren is written 蓮, 'lotus', or 恋, 'romantic love', among others; the kanji chosen fixes the meaning. Chinese ren, 仁, is the central Confucian virtue, usually rendered 'benevolence' or 'humaneness'. A separate French wren-derived Ren exists. All are documented.
How the name formed
- 蓮
- Ren
Related forms: 蓮 · 仁
Pronouncing Ren
REN
One syllable. Japanese and Chinese both say it much the same way.
Nicknames for Ren
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
- 1983
- Most girls named
- 202388 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2156reached in 2023
- Change vs 2024
- +2.4%85 in 2025, from 83
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.
Ren in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- 蓮 in Japanese — transliteration
- 仁 in Chinese — transliteration
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Arizona.
Rens among us
people named Ren are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 18,909 born in 2025 was named Ren
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Ren
- #2173
- Ren on the 2025 chart
- #847
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Ren went to 85 girls in 2025, but Renn is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 113, which makes it the 847th most-given girls’ name of the year — 1,326 places above the chart.
- Ren85
- Renn28
About 1 girl in 14,224 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 18,909 for Ren itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Deserae test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Ren's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Deserae climbed just as high around 1992, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Deserae's path sketches the road Ren is walking now.
Ren 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 Ren is headed
Ren looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 22% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
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.
Ren beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Ren in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That the Analects keeps redefining ren is a first-rate philosophical fact.
- The lotus meaning is concrete and beautiful.
- One syllable, clean, and never mispronounced.
- The meaning depends entirely on characters the Latin alphabet cannot show.
- In Japan it reads as more masculine than feminine.
- It is very short and can be swallowed by a long surname.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Ren
Feminine · #2173 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Rens 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 Ren are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Ren?
- Ren is the most-used spelling in US records — 85 of the 113 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Renn.
- How popular is the name Ren in 2025?
- Ren ranks #2173 among US girl names in 2025, with 85 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Ren?
- About 1 in every 18,909 US girls born in 2025 was named Ren — 85 in all.
- Will my child share the name Ren with classmates?
- Ren will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Ren
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Jocelynn#2173 · Kynslee#2173 · Rosaline#2173 · Zadie#2173 · Dawn#2173 · Hiba#2173 · Kayce#2173 · Karlie#2173
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Ren? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Ren and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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