Rhys

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Boy · Welsh

Rhys

Say it: HREES

Try it with your surname

Meaning

Old Welsh Ris, 'ardour, enthusiasm'.

Likelythe main view, with some doubt.

Its wave through time

Popular now

In the United States

10,800 babies given this name since 1929
At its height in 2020, about 1 in 2,400 boys
740 babies in 2020

Through the ages

Used by

The family of the name

Other spellings: Rees

English	Reece

Famous bearers

Rhys ap Gruffydd (the Lord Rhys), 12th-century ruler of Deheubarth

Names worth a look

SamsonBoyHebrew Shimshon, from shemesh 'sun'.Biblical · peak 2020

TrystanBoyFrom British Drust or Drustan, of uncertain meaning; the link to French triste 'sad' is a medieval folk etymology.Middle Ages · peak 2010

SampsonBoyFrom Hebrew Shimshon, from shemesh 'sun'.Middle Ages · peak 1898 · forgotten

IdrisBoyUncertain; often analysed as iud 'lord' and rhys 'ardour'.Middle Ages · peak 2020

OwainBoyUncertain; usually taken from Latin Eugenius 'well-born', though a native origin is also argued.Early Medieval

JenkinBoyA medieval pet form of John, with the Flemish-Dutch diminutive -kin.Middle Ages · forgotten

RoseGirlIn the Middle Ages often a form of the Germanic name Rohese (probably from hrod 'fame' or hros 'horse'), later…Middle Ages · peak 1908

RussellBoyFrom an English surname, from Old French rousel 'little red one', a nickname for red hair.Victorian · peak 1914

Where this comes from

Royal and noble genealogies
National birth statistics of European countries source
United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source

Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.

Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.