girl's name
Renee
ruh-NAY
- Origin French
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 5
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 415,577
Northern Ireland
#324
2024 births
Renee is a girl's name from the Latin for reborn, given at baptism to mark spiritual rebirth. Our data marks it stable, and it charts in all seven markets we track — the only name in this group to do so.
- Renee is a name of French origin.
- Peaked in 1964, when 6,045 babies were given the name.
- Its usage has held steady over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 14,867 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1889.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 2.
Renee over time
Births per decade in France, 1900s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2010s, still in progress — it covers 2010 to 2015, not a full ten years. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2015, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1900s | 34,655 |
| 1910s | 41,695 |
| 1920s | 64,320 |
| 1930s | 43,450 |
| 1940s | 24,210 |
| 1950s | 10,320 |
| 1960s | 2,465 |
| 1970s | 375 |
| 1980s | 120 |
| 1990s | 35 |
| 2000s | 35 |
| 2010s (to 2015) | 30 |
| 2020s (to 2015) | 25 |
What Renee means
Renee means reborn, or born again. The Latin is a past participle meaning literally born a second time, and it referred to baptism rather than to anything about the child.
Where Renee comes from
Renee is the unaccented form of the French Renée, feminine of René, from the Latin Renatus — re, again, joined to natus, born. Early Christians took it as a baptismal name marking the rebirth that baptism was held to accomplish, which makes it unusual: most names honor a saint, describe a quality or record a place, while this one names a sacrament. English-language registers drop the accents, which is why our records hold Renee separately from the masculine Rene and from the accented French forms.
Renee in use
Renee peaked in 1964, when 6,045 babies were registered in its largest market, and our data marks it stable rather than falling. It charts in all seven markets — 324th in Northern Ireland on 5 births, 423rd in Scotland, 633rd in England and Wales on 62, 737th in Ireland, 903rd in Canada, 1101st in the United States on 223 and 3514th in France — across 415,577 lifetime births. Complete seven-market coverage is rare, and it is the only name in this group to manage it.
How popular is Renee?
In 2025, Renee was given to 223 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Renee is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
How Renee is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Renée | Renée is a rare spelling of Renee, written with an acute accent and recorded about 221,739 times, mostly in France. | 221,739 |
Names that peaked alongside Renee
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Renee also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Renee over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Renee
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Renee in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Renee
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Renee — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Renee
What does the name Renee mean?
Reborn — the Latin Renatus, born again, referring to baptism.
Is it Renee or Renée?
Renée is the French spelling with accents; Renee is the form English-language registers record.
Is Renee related to Rene?
Yes — Rene is the masculine and Renee the feminine of the same Latin name.
How popular is Renee?
It charts in all six markets we track, from 324th in Northern Ireland to 3514th in France.
Is Renee a girl's or a boy's name?
Renee is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Renee?
Renee has 2 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Renee?
Renee is usually shortened to Nay.
Is Renee a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Renee currently ranks #324 in the United States. Its usage has held steady over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.