Rhys
A masculine Welsh name derived from a combination of "Arddu" (dark) and "rhys" (ford).
Name Census estimates that about 14,193 living Americans carry the first name Rhys. It sits at #354 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It is a predominantly male name (94.1% of registrations). The average person named Rhys today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rhys births was 2023 (991 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rhys. 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 Rhys with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Rhys is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 13 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
14K
~ 1 in 24,150 Americans
Peak year
2023
991 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#354
Tracked since 1929
Census
Rhys in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 10,330 people with the first name Rhys, which placed it at #2,407 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
#2,407
National first-name rank
People counted
10K
10,330 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
75.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rhys
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rhys is White at 75.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (9.6%) and Hispanic (7.8%). 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 Rhys 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 Rhys at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White75.0% · 7,744
- Two or more races9.6% · 996
- Hispanic or Latino7.8% · 806
- Black or African American4.2% · 430
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 304
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 50
Gender
Gender distribution for Rhys
Rhys leans heavily male at 94.1% of total registrations, but 849 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Rhys as a male name
- Ranked #354 in 2024
- 946 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (946 births)
Rhys as a female name
- Ranked #3,622 in 2024
- 43 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (62 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rhys leans strongly male. 9,653 people counted with this name were male (93.4%), compared with 681 female bearers (6.6%).
Popularity
Rhys: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rhys from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 6,232 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Rhys remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rhys 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 Rhys during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rhys' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 50 states and territories. California, Texas, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Rhys, while Vermont, Alaska, Montana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 229 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rhys
The given name Rhys originates from the Welsh language and has its roots in the ancient Celtic culture. It is believed to have derived from the Welsh word "rhys," meaning "ardor" or "enthusiasm." The name has been in use since the Middle Ages in Wales and surrounding regions.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Rhys can be found in the Welsh Triads, a collection of traditional folk tales and historical records dating back to the 13th century. These triads mention several Welsh princes and noblemen bearing the name Rhys, indicating its widespread use among the Welsh nobility during that time.
In the 12th century, Rhys ap Gruffydd, also known as The Lord Rhys, was a prominent Welsh prince and leader who played a significant role in the resistance against Norman rule in Wales. He was celebrated for his military prowess and his efforts to preserve Welsh independence.
Another notable figure in history was Rhys Goch Eryri, a 14th-century Welsh poet and warrior who is renowned for his patriotic and satirical poems. His works were widely circulated and helped to maintain the Welsh literary tradition during a period of English domination.
In the realm of religion, Rhys Prichard, a 16th-century Welsh clergyman and translator, made significant contributions by translating parts of the Bible and other religious texts into the Welsh language, making them accessible to the common people.
During the Tudor period, Sir Rhys ap Thomas was a prominent Welsh landowner and soldier who fought alongside Henry VII at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. His support for the Lancastrian cause played a crucial role in Henry's ascension to the English throne.
Over the centuries, the name Rhys has been borne by numerous individuals across various fields, including literature, politics, and the arts. Some other notable figures include Rhys Davies, a 20th-century Welsh writer known for his short stories and novels depicting working-class life in Wales, and Rhys Ifans, a contemporary Welsh actor known for his roles in films such as Notting Hill and The Amazing Spider-Man.
People
Rhys + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rhys 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
Rhys: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rhys?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 14,193 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rhys 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 24,150 US residents.
Is Rhys a common name?
We classify Rhys as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 14,396 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rhys most popular?
The single biggest year for Rhys was 2023, when 991 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rhys is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rhys in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 10,330 people with the name Rhys, or 3.42 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,407 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 Rhys 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 Rhys?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rhys leans strongly male. 9,653 people counted with this name were male (93.4%), compared with 681 female bearers (6.6%). 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 Rhys?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rhys is White at 75.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (9.6%) and Hispanic (7.8%). 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 Rhys most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Rhys in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.0% (7,744 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 Rhys in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rhys a male name?
Yes, 94.1% of people registered as Rhys 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 Rhys still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rhys 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 Rhys 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 Rhys?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.