Reggie
A diminutive form of the English name Reginald, meaning "counsel power" or "wise ruler".
Name Census estimates that about 10,578 living Americans carry the first name Reggie. It is a predominantly male name (95.8% of registrations). The average person named Reggie today is around 47 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Reggie births was 1979 (318 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Reggie. 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 Reggie with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Reggie is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 539 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
11K
~ 1 in 32,403 Americans
Peak year
1979
318 babies that year
Average age
47
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,977
Tracked since 1906
Census
Reggie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 11,723 people with the first name Reggie, which placed it at #2,230 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
#2,230
National first-name rank
People counted
12K
11,723 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
49.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Reggie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Reggie is Black at 49.3%. The next largest groups are White (32.5%) and Hispanic (8.1%). 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 Reggie 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 Reggie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American49.3% · 5,778
- White32.5% · 3,806
- Hispanic or Latino8.1% · 953
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.0% · 581
- Two or more races4.0% · 464
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 141
Gender
Gender distribution for Reggie
Reggie leans heavily male at 95.8% of total registrations, but 539 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Reggie as a male name
- Ranked #1,977 in 2024
- 79 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1979 (318 births)
Reggie as a female name
- Ranked #6,847 in 2024
- 17 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (20 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Reggie leans strongly male. 11,273 people counted with this name were male (96.2%), compared with 444 female bearers (3.8%).
Popularity
Reggie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Reggie from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 2,317 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Reggie 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 Reggie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Reggies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 36 states and territories. California, Texas, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Reggie, while Oregon, Colorado, Massachusetts recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 211 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Reggie
The name Reggie is a diminutive form of the name Reginald, which has its origins in the Germanic languages. The name Reginald is derived from the Old German words "regin" meaning "counsel" or "advice" and "waldan" meaning "to rule" or "to govern." Together, these components suggest the meaning "mighty counsellor" or "wise ruler."
The name Reginald gained popularity during the Middle Ages, particularly in England and other parts of Europe. It was a common name among the Norman aristocracy and was borne by several notable figures in history. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name was Reginald of Durham, an English monk and historian who lived in the 12th century.
In the 13th century, the name Reginald appeared in the epic poem "Parzival" by the German poet Wolfram von Eschenbach. The character Reginald was portrayed as a wise and valiant knight. This literary reference may have contributed to the name's popularity during that time period.
Among the famous historical figures named Reginald, one can mention Reginald Pole (1500-1558), an English cardinal and the last Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury during the reign of Queen Mary I. Another notable figure was Reginald Heber (1783-1826), an English bishop and hymn writer, best known for penning the lyrics to the popular hymn "From Greenland's Icy Mountains."
The diminutive form "Reggie" emerged as a nickname for Reginald in the 19th century. One of the earliest recorded individuals with this nickname was Reggie Smith (1842-1899), an English cricketer who played for Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. Another famous Reggie was Reginald "Reggie" Walker (1889-1951), an English cricketer and football player who represented England in both sports.
In the 20th century, the name Reggie gained further recognition with individuals such as Reggie Jackson (born 1946), an American baseball player nicknamed "Mr. October" for his outstanding performances in the World Series. Reggie Lewis (1965-1993) was an American professional basketball player who tragically passed away at a young age due to a heart condition.
Overall, the name Reggie, with its origins in the Germanic languages and its association with wisdom, counsel, and governance, has a rich historical lineage. While it may have evolved into a diminutive form, it continues to carry the essence of its original meaning and has been borne by notable figures throughout history.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Reggie
People
Reggie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Reggie 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
Reggie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Reggie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10,578 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Reggie 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 32,403 US residents.
Is Reggie a common name?
We classify Reggie as "Uncommon". It ranks above 97.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 12,730 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Reggie most popular?
The single biggest year for Reggie was 1979, when 318 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Reggie is about 47 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Reggie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 11,723 people with the name Reggie, or 3.88 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,230 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 Reggie 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 Reggie?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Reggie leans strongly male. 11,273 people counted with this name were male (96.2%), compared with 444 female bearers (3.8%). 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 Reggie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Reggie is Black at 49.3%. The next largest groups are White (32.5%) and Hispanic (8.1%). 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 Reggie most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Reggie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.3% (5,778 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 Reggie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Reggie a male name?
Yes, 95.8% of people registered as Reggie in the SSA data are male. 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 Reggie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Reggie 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 Reggie 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 many people are named Reggie?
Find out how many Americans are named Reggie on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.