Reena
A feminine name of Sanskrit origin meaning "gem" or "precious stone".
Name Census estimates that about 2,123 living Americans carry the first name Reena. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Reena today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Reena births was 1980 (97 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Reena. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Reena with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.1K
~ 1 in 161,448 Americans
Peak year
1980
97 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,737
Tracked since 1930
Census
Reena in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,115 people with the first name Reena, which placed it at #4,500 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#4,500
National first-name rank
People counted
4.1K
4,115 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
68.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Reena
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Reena is Asian/Pacific Islander at 68.6%. The next largest groups are White (17.8%) and Black (5.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Reena described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Reena at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander68.6% · 2,821
- White17.8% · 733
- Black or African American5.7% · 233
- Hispanic or Latino4.2% · 173
- Two or more races3.3% · 134
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 21
Popularity
Reena: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Reena from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 628 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Reena by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Reena during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Reenas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Reena, while Georgia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 99 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Reena
The name Reena is derived from the Sanskrit word "Reena," which means "lotus flower" or "jewel." This name has its origins in ancient Indian culture and is believed to have been used as early as the 6th century BCE.
The earliest known reference to the name Reena can be found in the Hindu sacred texts, the Vedas, where it is mentioned as a symbol of purity and beauty. In Hindu mythology, the lotus flower is considered a sacred symbol, and it is often associated with the goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Reena can be found in the ancient Indian epic, the Mahabharata, where it is mentioned as the name of a character. The Mahabharata is believed to have been composed between the 8th and 9th centuries BCE.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who have borne the name Reena. One of the most famous is Reena Roy, an Indian actress who was born in 1957 and is best known for her work in Bollywood films during the 1970s and 1980s.
Another notable Reena is Reena Esmail, an Indian-American composer and musician who was born in 1983. She is known for her work in blending Indian classical music with Western classical traditions.
In the world of sports, Reena Tomley is a former Indian badminton player who represented India in several international tournaments during the 1990s and 2000s.
Reena Raggi is a notable American jurist who has served as a United States Circuit Judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit since 2002.
Reena Virk was a Canadian teenager who was tragically murdered in 1997 at the age of 14, in a case that drew widespread attention and sparked discussions about bullying and youth violence.
The name Reena has remained popular in various parts of the world, particularly in India and among Indian diaspora communities. It is often chosen for its beautiful meaning and its connection to ancient Indian culture and traditions.
People
Reena + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Reena as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Reena: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Reena?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,123 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Reena going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 161,448 US residents.
Is Reena a common name?
We classify Reena as "Rare". It ranks above 93.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,298 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Reena most popular?
The single biggest year for Reena was 1980, when 97 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Reena is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Reena in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,115 people with the name Reena, or 1.36 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,500 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Reena in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Reena?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Reena appears almost entirely female. Of the 4,115 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Reena?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Reena is Asian/Pacific Islander at 68.6%. The next largest groups are White (17.8%) and Black (5.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Reena most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Reena in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.6% (2,821 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Reena in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Reena a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Reena in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Reena still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Reena in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Reena can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Reena?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Reena at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.