Read
An English name derived from the Old English word "rædan" meaning "to advise".
Name Census estimates that about 223 living Americans carry the first name Read. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Read today is around 47 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Read births was 1949 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Read. 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
223
~ 1 in 1,537,015 Americans
Peak year
1949
14 babies that year
Average age
47
years old
2014 SSA rank
#13,603
Tracked since 1914
Census
Read in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 379 people with the first name Read, which placed it at #25,119 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
#25,119
National first-name rank
People counted
379
379 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
89.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Read
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Read is White at 89.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.0%) and Hispanic (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 Read 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 Read at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.4% · 339
- Two or more races4.0% · 15
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 13
- Black or African American1.6% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 2
Popularity
Read: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Read from the 1910s through to the 2010s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 53 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Read 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 Read during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Read
The given name Read is an English name derived from the Old English verb "rædan," meaning "to advise" or "to counsel." The name's origins can be traced back to the Anglo-Saxon period in Britain, around the 5th to 11th centuries AD.
The name Read is believed to have been initially used as a descriptive surname for individuals who possessed the ability to read or had a reputation for providing wise counsel. Over time, it transitioned into being used as a given name, particularly among families with a strong literary or scholarly tradition.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Read can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of land ownership in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. This suggests that the name was already in use by the late 11th century.
Historically, the name Read has been associated with individuals who have made significant contributions to the literary and academic realms. Notable examples include Sir Walter Read (1588-1669), an English scholar and writer who served as the principal secretary to Sir Francis Bacon. Another prominent figure was Alexander Read (1586-1641), a Scottish philosopher and educator who served as the rector of the University of Leiden in the Netherlands.
During the Renaissance period, the name Read gained popularity among intellectuals and scholars. One noteworthy bearer was Conyers Read (1681-1744), an English philosopher and mathematician who made contributions to the field of natural philosophy.
In the realm of literature, the name Read has been borne by several acclaimed authors and poets. Sir Herbert Read (1893-1968) was an influential English poet, literary critic, and anarchist philosopher known for his works on art and literature.
The 19th century saw the rise of prominent figures with the name Read, including Sir John Meredith Read (1837-1896), a British diplomat and author who served as the British Minister to Sweden and Norway.
Throughout history, the name Read has consistently been associated with individuals who have made significant contributions to the pursuit of knowledge, wisdom, and intellectual endeavors. While not as common as some other English names, it has maintained a presence within literary and academic circles, reflecting its linguistic roots and connotations of erudition and counsel.
People
Read + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Read 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
Read: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Read?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 223 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Read 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 1,537,015 US residents.
Is Read a common name?
We classify Read as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 308 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Read most popular?
The single biggest year for Read was 1949, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Read 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 Read in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 379 people with the name Read, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,119 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 Read 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 Read?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Read leans strongly male. 345 people counted with this name were male (92.2%), compared with 29 female bearers (7.8%). 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 Read?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Read is White at 89.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.0%) and Hispanic (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 Read most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Read in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.4% (339 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 Read in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Read a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Read 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 Read still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Read 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 Read 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 Read?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.