Ries
Diminutive form of Germanic names derived from "ric" meaning ruler or power.
Name Census estimates that about 48 living Americans carry the first name Ries. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ries today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ries births was 1999 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ries. 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 Ries. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
48
~ 1 in 7,140,715 Americans
Peak year
1999
8 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2019 SSA rank
#13,712
Tracked since 1999
Census
Ries in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 152 people with the first name Ries, which placed it at #44,992 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
#44,992
National first-name rank
People counted
152
152 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
74.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ries
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ries is White at 74.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (12.5%) and Two or More Races (5.9%). 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 Ries 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 Ries at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White74.3% · 113
- Hispanic or Latino12.5% · 19
- Two or more races5.9% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.9% · 6
- Black or African American2.0% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 2
Popularity
Ries: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ries from the 1990s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 26 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
Ries 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 Ries 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 Ries
The given name Ries has its origins in the Germanic languages, specifically Dutch and Low German. It is a variant of the more common name Reyes, which is derived from the Old French word "reis" or the Spanish word "rey," both meaning "king."
In the Middle Ages, Ries was a popular name among the nobility and ruling classes of the Low Countries, particularly in the regions of modern-day Netherlands, Belgium, and northern Germany. The name was associated with power, leadership, and regal qualities.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ries can be found in the chronicles of the Merovingian dynasty, which ruled the Franks from the 5th to the 8th century. The name appears in reference to a Frankish nobleman named Ries von Aachen, who served as a trusted advisor to King Clovis I in the late 5th century.
During the Renaissance period, the name Ries gained popularity among the wealthy merchant classes of the Hanseatic League, a powerful commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Northern Europe. Notable figures from this time include Ries van Hoorn (1460-1524), a Dutch merchant and explorer who voyaged to the Americas and established trade routes in the Caribbean.
In the 17th century, Ries was a common name among the Dutch settlers who colonized parts of South Africa and the Cape Colony. One prominent individual was Ries van Riebeeck (1619-1677), a Dutch colonial administrator who founded the city of Cape Town and served as the first governor of the Cape Colony.
Another historical figure with the name Ries was Ries Pienaar (1894-1942), a South African military officer and decorated World War I veteran who later served as the Chief of the General Staff of the Union Defence Force during World War II.
In the realm of art and literature, the name Ries is associated with Dutch painter Ries Mulder (1881-1954), known for his impressionist landscapes and portraits, and German author Ries Jakob Buhl (1777-1857), who wrote several novels and plays during the Romantic era.
While the name Ries has its roots in Dutch and Low German cultures, it has also been adopted and adapted in various other languages and cultures over time, reflecting the widespread influence and migrations of the Germanic peoples throughout history.
People
Ries + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ries 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
Ries: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ries?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 48 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ries 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 7,140,715 US residents.
Is Ries a common name?
We classify Ries as "Very Rare". It ranks above 53.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 49 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ries most popular?
The single biggest year for Ries was 1999, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ries is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ries in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 152 people with the name Ries, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #44,992 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 Ries 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 Ries?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Ries on both sides of the split. Of the 144 people counted with this name, 105 were male (72.9%) and 39 were female (27.1%). 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 Ries?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ries is White at 74.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (12.5%) and Two or More Races (5.9%). 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 Ries most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ries in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.3% (113 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 Ries in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ries a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ries 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 Ries still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ries 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 Ries 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 named Ries?
Find out how many Americans are named Ries on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.