Reedie
A masculine given name derived from the English word for a reed plant.
Name Census estimates that about 0 living Americans carry the first name Reedie. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 66.7% of registrations being male. The average person named Reedie today is around 0 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Reedie births was 1914 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Reedie. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Reedie. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
0
~ - Americans
Peak year
1914
5 babies that year
Average age
-
1928 SSA rank
#4,617
Tracked since 1914
Gender
Gender distribution for Reedie
Reedie is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 15 total registrations, 10 (66.7%) were male and 5 (33.3%) were female.
Reedie as a male name
- Ranked #4,617 in 1928
- 5 male births in 1928
- Peak: 1914 (5 births)
Reedie as a female name
- Ranked #5,438 in 1918
- 5 female births in 1918
- Peak: 1918 (5 births)
Popularity
Reedie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Reedie from the 1910s through to the 1920s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 10 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1910s peak, Reedie remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Reedie 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 Reedie 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 Reedie
The name Reedie is an English variant of the name Reed, which has its origins in the Old English word "reed" or "hreod," referring to the tall grass-like plant that grows near water. The name likely originated as a surname, given to someone who lived near a reed bed or worked with reeds.
In its earliest recorded use, the name Reedie appeared in the Domesday Book of 1086, a comprehensive record of land ownership and taxation in England commissioned by William the Conqueror. It was listed as a surname, indicating that it had already been in use for some time before the Norman Conquest.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Reedie was Robert Reedie, a Scottish merchant and burgess of Edinburgh in the 16th century. He was a prominent figure in the city's trade and civic affairs during the reign of King James VI of Scotland (later James I of England).
Another notable bearer of the name Reedie was Sir John Reedie (1776-1854), a British naval officer who served during the Napoleonic Wars. He distinguished himself in several battles, including the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, and later became a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath.
In the literary world, Reedie is associated with the Scottish author and poet James Reedie (1856-1924), known for his works depicting life in rural Scotland. His most famous work, "The Briar Bush," published in 1888, was a collection of short stories that captured the language and culture of his native Angus region.
A more modern figure with the name Reedie was Sir Duncan Reedie (1918-2007), a British athlete and sports administrator. He competed in the 1936 Berlin Olympics as a hurdler and later served as the President of the International Amateur Athletic Federation (now World Athletics) from 1976 to 1999.
While the name Reedie may not be as common today as it once was, its history is deeply rooted in the English and Scottish traditions, reflecting a connection to the natural world and the trades and occupations of earlier times.
People
Reedie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Reedie 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
Reedie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Reedie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 0 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Reedie 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 - US residents.
Is Reedie a common name?
We classify Reedie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 2.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 15 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Reedie most popular?
The single biggest year for Reedie was 1914, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Reedie is about 0 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Reedie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Reedie a male name?
Yes, 66.7% of people registered as Reedie 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 Reedie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Reedie 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 Reedie 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have Reedie as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.