Regis
A Latin name meaning "regal" or "royal".
Name Census estimates that about 2,873 living Americans carry the first name Regis. It is a predominantly male name (93.8% of registrations). The average person named Regis today is around 57 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Regis births was 1917 (107 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Regis. 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 Regis with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.9K
~ 1 in 119,302 Americans
Peak year
1917
107 babies that year
Average age
57
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,604
Tracked since 1897
Census
Regis in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,361 people with the first name Regis, which placed it at #5,184 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
#5,184
National first-name rank
People counted
3.4K
3,361 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
69.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Regis
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Regis is White at 69.7%. The next largest groups are Black (18.9%) and Hispanic (5.6%). 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 Regis 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 Regis at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White69.7% · 2,342
- Black or African American18.9% · 636
- Hispanic or Latino5.6% · 189
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.6% · 87
- Two or more races2.3% · 76
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 31
Gender
Gender distribution for Regis
Regis leans heavily male at 93.8% of total registrations, but 343 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Regis as a male name
- Ranked #7,604 in 2024
- 11 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1917 (98 births)
Regis as a female name
- Ranked #15,557 in 1997
- 5 female births in 1997
- Peak: 1952 (12 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Regis leans strongly male. 3,127 people counted with this name were male (92.9%), compared with 240 female bearers (7.1%).
Popularity
Regis: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Regis from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 886 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Regis 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 Regis during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Regis' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York recorded the most babies named Regis, while Tennessee, South Carolina, Alabama recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 302 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Regis
The name Regis is derived from the Latin word "rex", meaning "king". It dates back to ancient Roman times and was commonly used as a name for those of royal or noble lineage.
During the Roman era, the name Regis was sometimes given to male children born into the imperial family or those of high social standing. It carried connotations of power, authority, and leadership within Roman culture.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Regis can be found in the writings of the Roman historian Tacitus, who mentioned a prominent figure named Regis who lived in the 1st century AD. Additionally, the name appears in various historical records and inscriptions from that period.
In the Middle Ages, the name Regis gained popularity across Europe, particularly in regions with strong Roman Catholic traditions. It was often associated with religious figures and saints, such as Saint Regis, a 17th-century French Jesuit priest known for his missionary work in Canada.
One notable historical figure bearing the name Regis was Regis Philbin (1931-2020), an American television host and actor best known for hosting popular shows like "Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee" and "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire".
Another famous Regis was Regis Toomey (1892-1991), an American actor who appeared in numerous films during the golden age of Hollywood. He is particularly remembered for his roles in westerns and crime dramas.
In the world of literature, Regis Debray (born 1940) is a French philosopher and theorist known for his works on semiotics, media studies, and political philosophy. He was a prominent figure in the intellectual circles of 1960s France.
Regis Wargnier (born 1948) is a French film director and screenwriter who gained international recognition for his 1992 film "Indochine", which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Regis Philbin, Regis Toomey, Regis Debray, and Regis Wargnier are just a few examples of prominent individuals throughout history who have borne the name Regis, a name with roots in ancient Roman culture and connotations of royalty and leadership.
People
Regis + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Regis 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
Regis: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Regis?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,873 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Regis 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 119,302 US residents.
Is Regis a common name?
We classify Regis as "Rare". It ranks above 95% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,528 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Regis most popular?
The single biggest year for Regis was 1917, when 107 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Regis is about 57 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Regis in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,361 people with the name Regis, or 1.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,184 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 Regis 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 Regis?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Regis leans strongly male. 3,127 people counted with this name were male (92.9%), compared with 240 female bearers (7.1%). 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 Regis?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Regis is White at 69.7%. The next largest groups are Black (18.9%) and Hispanic (5.6%). 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 Regis most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Regis in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.7% (2,342 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 Regis in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Regis a male name?
Yes, 93.8% of people registered as Regis 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 Regis still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Regis 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 Regis 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 share the name Regis?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.