Names/F

Forrest

boys’ nameComebackCompare

Forrest is ranked 407th among boys in 2024 (788 births). Its best rank was 173rd, in 1913.

Rank in 2024
#407up 17 from 2023
Births in 2024
7880.05% of boys
Peak year
19941,343 births
Best rank
#173in 1913
Since 1880
53,824people given the name
Babies named Forrest, by year of birthboys
05001k1.5k2k18801900192019401960198020002020

The story in the numbers

52,778 boys have been named Forrest in the United States since 1880, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 1994, with 1,343 births.

This is a comeback. After an early peak the name fell to a fraction of its former share, and it has been climbing again for the past decade.

Half of everyone given the name was born by 1957, and the 1920s alone account for 13%. It has spent 136 of 145 years in the top 1,000.

It is overwhelmingly a boy’s name: 1,046 girls have also been given it, 1.9% of the total.

Rank among boys, year by year

Higher on the chart = more popularrank (gaps = outside the top 1,000)
#1#250#500#750#100018801900192019401960198020002020

By decade

Decadeboys named Forrest
1880s416
1890s713
1900s900
1910s4,860
1920s6,910
1930s4,421
1940s4,499
1950s4,711
1960s3,588
1970s2,906
1980s3,489
1990s6,502
2000s1,741
2010s3,412
2020s3,710

In 1994, its biggest year

Forrest was the 217th most given boy’s name that year. The top five boys’ names of 1994 were Michael, Christopher, Matthew, Joshua and Tyler. See all of 1994.

Names that rose and fell with Forrest

Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.

Other spellings in the data

What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.