Reginal
Small or kingly, derived from the Old English word "rēgnian" meaning "to reign".
Name Census estimates that about 2,145 living Americans carry the first name Reginal. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Reginal today is around 51 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Reginal births was 1970 (92 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Reginal. 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.
People living today
2.1K
~ 1 in 159,792 Americans
Peak year
1970
92 babies that year
Average age
51
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,272
Tracked since 1914
Census
Reginal in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,825 people with the first name Reginal, which placed it at #8,066 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
#8,066
National first-name rank
People counted
1.8K
1,825 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
80.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Reginal
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Reginal is Black at 80.5%. The next largest groups are White (11.9%) and Two or More Races (3.4%). 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 Reginal 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 Reginal at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American80.5% · 1,470
- White11.9% · 217
- Two or more races3.4% · 62
- Hispanic or Latino2.8% · 52
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 21
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Reginal
Out of the 2,594 babies given the name Reginal since 1880, 99.8% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Reginal as a male name
- Ranked #13,747 in 2024
- 5 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1970 (92 births)
Reginal as a female name
- Ranked #9,272 in 1971
- 5 female births in 1971
- Peak: 1971 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Reginal leans strongly male. 1,792 people counted with this name were male (97.9%), compared with 38 female bearers (2.1%).
Popularity
Reginal: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Reginal from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 611 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
Reginal 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 Reginal during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Reginals live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. Texas, Mississippi, Alabama recorded the most babies named Reginal, while New York, New Jersey, South Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 57 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Reginal
The name Reginal has its origins in the Latin language, and it is derived from the word "regius," which means "royal" or "kingly." This connection to royalty and nobility suggests that the name may have been used in ancient times by those of high social standing or noble birth.
Reginal can be traced back to the Early Middle Ages, around the 5th to 10th centuries CE. During this period, the name was particularly popular in regions where Latin influences were strong, such as parts of present-day Italy, France, and Spain.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Reginal can be found in the writings of the 6th-century historian Gregory of Tours, who mentioned a Frankish nobleman named Reginal. This historical reference suggests that the name was in use among the Frankish aristocracy during the Merovingian dynasty.
In the 9th century, there was a notable figure named Reginal of Prüm, who was a Benedictine monk and the Abbot of the Prüm Abbey in present-day Germany. He played a significant role in the Carolingian Renaissance and was renowned for his scholarship and leadership.
Another historical figure bearing the name Reginal was Reginal d'Aubonne, a 12th-century French nobleman and crusader. He participated in the Third Crusade (1189-1192) and fought alongside Richard the Lionheart, the King of England.
In the 13th century, there was a prominent Italian scholar and philosopher named Reginal of Piperno, who was a member of the Dominican Order. He made significant contributions to the field of logic and was highly regarded in academic circles during his time.
Reginal Pole, born in 1500, was a prominent figure in England during the Tudor period. He was a Catholic cardinal, an adviser to King Henry VIII, and later played a crucial role in the English Reformation under the reign of Queen Mary I.
These examples demonstrate the historical usage and significance of the name Reginal across various regions, time periods, and contexts, ranging from nobility and religious figures to scholars and philosophers.
People
Reginal + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Reginal 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
Reginal: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Reginal?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,145 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Reginal 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 159,792 US residents.
Is Reginal a common name?
We classify Reginal as "Rare". It ranks above 94% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,594 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Reginal most popular?
The single biggest year for Reginal was 1970, when 92 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Reginal is about 51 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Reginal in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,825 people with the name Reginal, or 0.60 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,066 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 Reginal 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 Reginal?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Reginal leans strongly male. 1,792 people counted with this name were male (97.9%), compared with 38 female bearers (2.1%). 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 Reginal?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Reginal is Black at 80.5%. The next largest groups are White (11.9%) and Two or More Races (3.4%). 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 Reginal most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Reginal in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.5% (1,470 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 Reginal in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Reginal a male name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Reginal 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 Reginal still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Reginal 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 Reginal 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 called Reginal?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.