Reuel
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "friend of God".
Name Census estimates that about 578 living Americans carry the first name Reuel. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Reuel today is around 33 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Reuel births was 2023 (29 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Reuel. 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 Reuel with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
578
~ 1 in 593,001 Americans
Peak year
2023
29 babies that year
Average age
33
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,037
Tracked since 1893
Census
Reuel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 709 people with the first name Reuel, which placed it at #16,031 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
#16,031
National first-name rank
People counted
709
709 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
36.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Reuel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Reuel is White at 36.4%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (25.8%) and Black (22.4%). 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 Reuel 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 Reuel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White36.4% · 258
- Asian and Pacific Islander25.8% · 183
- Black or African American22.4% · 159
- Hispanic or Latino10.2% · 72
- Two or more races4.4% · 31
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 6
Popularity
Reuel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Reuel from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 121 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Reuel 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 Reuel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Reuels live
Origin
Meaning and history of Reuel
The name Reuel is of Hebrew origin and is believed to have its roots in the ancient Semitic languages. It is thought to be derived from the Hebrew words "ra'ah" meaning "to see" and "El" meaning "God". Thus, the name Reuel can be interpreted as "friend of God" or "God is friend".
The earliest known reference to the name Reuel is found in the Bible, specifically in the Book of Exodus. Reuel was the name of Moses' father-in-law, who was also known as Jethro. He was a Midianite priest and is mentioned as providing guidance and advice to Moses during the Israelites' journey through the wilderness.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Reuel was a French scholar and theologian who lived in the 12th century. Reuel of Auxerre was a prominent figure in the scholastic movement and is known for his commentaries on several books of the Bible.
In the 17th century, Reuel Reynoldes was an English clergyman and author who wrote several religious works, including a book titled "The Humble Sinner's Complaining".
During the 18th century, Reuel Keith was a British naval officer who served in the Royal Navy. He is known for his involvement in various naval battles and expeditions during the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War.
In the 19th century, Reuel Williams was an American author and editor who worked for various publications, including the New York Mirror and the Boston Quarterly Review. He is also known for his poetry and literary criticisms.
Another notable individual with the name Reuel was Reuel Calhoun Gilchrist, an American politician who served as the 20th Governor of Florida from 1909 to 1913.
While the name Reuel has its roots in ancient Hebrew and is found in religious texts, it has been used across various cultures and regions throughout history, with individuals bearing this name making contributions in fields such as religion, literature, military, and politics.
People
Reuel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Reuel 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
Reuel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Reuel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 578 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Reuel 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 593,001 US residents.
Is Reuel a common name?
We classify Reuel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 922 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Reuel most popular?
The single biggest year for Reuel was 2023, when 29 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Reuel is about 33 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Reuel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 709 people with the name Reuel, or 0.23 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,031 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 Reuel 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 Reuel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Reuel leans strongly male. 701 people counted with this name were male (98.0%), compared with 14 female bearers (2.0%). 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 Reuel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Reuel is White at 36.4%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (25.8%) and Black (22.4%). 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 Reuel most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Reuel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 36.4% (258 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 Reuel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Reuel a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Reuel 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 Reuel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Reuel 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 Reuel 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 have Reuel as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Reuel on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.