Reef
Recorded 1996–2025 · United States
Reef was most popular in 2021, when 89 American babies were given the name — ranking #3,819 that year. In 2025 it ranked #4,897, with 61 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 1,353 people named Reef.
Reef over time
How old is the name Reef?
Reef first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1996, which makes it about 29 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 30 of the 30 years since.
How many people are named Reef?
The Social Security Administration has recorded 1,353 American births named Reef between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 1,340 are estimated to be alive today.
How many babies were named Reef in 2025?
61 American babies were named Reef in 2025, ranking #4,897 that year.
Is Reef getting more or less popular?
Reef is holding steady. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 71 births a year, against 58 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of +23% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Is Reef a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Across the whole record Reef is a boy’s name — 4.7% of the 1,353 Americans given it were girls and 95.3% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 8% girls and 92% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
How old is someone named Reef?
Roughly 1,340 Americans named Reef are alive today — 99% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 11 years old, and half are between 5 and 17. That is a narrow band because Reef is a young name — it only became common recently, so almost everyone carrying it is still a child or a young adult.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
Where Reef is most concentrated
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
Explore further
See Reef on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org