Forrest

“Dweller or worker in a royal hunting forest” — Middle English origin

Boy's name · #374 in the US (2025) · Timeless

Few names move less than Forrest — on the books since 1880, #374 in 2025, and dependable in between. Roughly 54,000 boys share it. In all that time it has never once missed a year of the national records. Together with its spelling variant Forest (#750), Forrest would rank around #284 with about 1,200 births last year — the newborns split about 71/29 between Forrest and Forest.

Around the world: about 1 in 1,300 boys in New Zealand (2025) · about 1 in 2,500 boys in Canada (2024) · about 1 in 3,300 boys in Scotland (2025).

Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 46 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.

Famous Forrests

Forrest J Ackerman — American collector of science fiction books and movie memorabilia (1916-2008)
Forrest Smithson — athletics competitor (1884-1962)
Forrest Towns — American hurdler (1914–1991)
Forrest Griffin — American mixed martial artist
Forrest Tucker — American actor (1919–1986)

In stories & tradition

Forrest Gump — Forrest Gump · Gump and Co.
Forrest Gates — Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Forrest Blackwell — Lego City Undercover

What Forrests become

Among 202 notable people named Forrest:

No single standout — notable Forrests spread across many fields.

Similar names: Forest · Mack · Foster · Francis · Franklin · Marshall

Browse more boy names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.

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