Reyes
Feminine · “kings”
Reyes is given to both — 711 girls and 5,979 boys since 1880. See Reyes as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Reyes is the Spanish word for kings, and it became a family name the way a whole class of Spanish surnames did: not from an ancestor but from a devotion. It is given to daughters as well as sons, which is normal for surnames of this kind, because the title behind them is not a person's.
How old is the name Reyes?
Reyes first appears in US birth records in 1898 — 127 years ago. The typical Reyes alive today was born around 1935, making them about 90 years old. About 300 people named Reyes are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Reyes most popular?
Reyes peaked in 1909, reaching #1607 nationally. See the whole 1909 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From reges to Reyes
The story of Reyes
A cake baked with something hidden in it has been used to pick a temporary king for a very long time. Roman Saturnalia had a mock king chosen by lot; medieval and early modern Europe had a Twelfth Night cake with a bean baked into it, and whoever found the bean in their slice was king of the feast for the evening, gave orders and was obeyed. The custom survives across the Spanish-speaking world in the ring-shaped cake eaten at the January feast: a small figure is baked in, and in Mexico whoever finds it is obliged to provide tamales at a later date, which turns a game into a chain of obligations running through the year. In France the same cake still carries a bean and a paper crown. The English version faded in the nineteenth century, but the coin in the Christmas pudding is the same idea worn down.
Meaning
kings
The plural of the Spanish word for a king, from Latin rex. As a name it refers to the feast of the kings in January rather than to royalty, and it belongs to the same set as Cruz, Rosario, Santos, Nieves and Concepción — surnames taken from a devotion, a feast day or a title rather than from a father.
How the name formed
- reges
- Reyes
Related forms: Reis · Reis
Pronouncing Reyes
RAY-ess
Two syllables with the stress at the front. The final s is a plural in Spanish rather than part of a root, which is why the singular form is also a name.
Nicknames for Reyes
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
- 1898
- Most girls named
- 192023 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1607reached in 1909
- Change vs 2008
- 0.0%5 in 2011, from 5
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.
Reyes in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Reis in Portuguese — same name
- Reis in Catalan — same name
Reyess among us
people named Reyes are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Reyes sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It is short, entirely regular in Spanish, and easy for English speakers to say.
- Rey detaches as a short form and is a complete name.
- It works for a child of either sex, as devotional names generally do.
- It reads as a surname to most American eyes, which suits some settings and not others.
- English speakers often say the first vowel as in rye, which gives a different name.
- The plural s invites people to treat it as a family name rather than a given one.
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What they receive
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Reyes
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Reyess are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 300 people named Reyes are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Reyes in 2025?
- Reyes is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Reyes with classmates?
- Reyes will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More R names
The most-given names starting with R, all years combined.
Ruth#173 · Rebecca#349 · Rachel#250 · Rose#114 · Ruby#64 · Robin#704 · Rita#1285 · Rhonda#6116
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Reyes? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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