How Many People Are Named Forrest?
people named Forrest are alive in the United States today (estimate)
About 1 in 10,978 people in the US has this name
Based on 54,697 babies named Forrest in Social Security records from 1880 to 2025, and the share of each birth year still alive in 2025.
Popularity Rank
π Rare
Peak Year
1,381 births
Trend
Stable (last 10 years)
π Name Origin & Meaning
Meaning:
From an English surname meaning "forest", originally belonging to a person who lived near a forest. In America it has sometimes been used in honour of the Confederate Civil War general Nathan Bedford Forrest (1821-1877). This name was borne by the title character in the movie 'Forrest Gump' (1994) about a loveable simpleton. Use of the name increased when the movie was released, but has since faded away.
Source of the meaning, origin, pronunciation and related names: Behind the Name.
Same Sound, Other Spellings
These names are pronounced like Forrest in English. Counting Forrest and these spellings together, about 40,546 people alive in the US have the name.
β§ Gender Distribution
Of the babies given the name Forrest, 1.7% were girls and 98.3% were boys. The share has stayed close to this since the 1880s: 4.1% of the babies were girls then and 1.7% in the 2020s.
π₯ Age Distribution
The average person named Forrest alive today is about 38 years old, and 39% are between 30 and 59. Half of them were between 14 and 60 in 2025.
π Popularity Over Time
Forrest first appears in the records in 1880 and was given most often in 1994, to 1,381 babies. In 2025, 862 babies got the name.
Babies given the name each year, 1880 to 2025
π Rank History
Forrest has never been one of the 100 most popular boys' names. Its best rank was #173, in 1913. In 2025 it ranked #374.
| Boys | |
|---|---|
| Rank in 2025 | #374 |
| Best rank | #173 (1913) |
| Years in the top 100 | None |
| Rank in its biggest decade | #200 in the 1920s |
π State-Wise Distribution
People named Forrest alive today, by the state where they were born (estimate; state records start in 1910).
More people named Forrest were born in California than in any other state: about 3,269 of those alive today. Compared with the national rate in the same years, Forrest was given 2.3 times as often in Oregon, 2.1 times in Alaska and 1.9 times in Washington.
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