Forest

Meaning: Dweller or worker in a royal hunting forest
Origin: Variant of Forrest (from Middle English)

Boy's name · #750 in the US (2025) · Comeback

Popularity over time

Forest was #223 in 1893, slipped to #2551 by 2006, and has climbed back to #750 today. Roughly 18,000 boys have been named Forest since 1880. In all that time it has never once missed a year of the national records.

Across the states

See where Forest is more common.

Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 31 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.

Around the world

See how Forest ranks in other countries and regions.

#862 in England & Wales (2025) · #901 in Canada (2024).

Famous Forests

Forest Whitaker — American actor
Forest Ray Moulton — American astronomer and mathematician of the XXth century (1872–1952)
Forest Able — American basketball player
Forest McNeir — Sport shooter (1875–1957)
Forest B. H. Brown — American botanist (1873–1954)

In stories & tradition

Forest Law — Tekken 3 (video game)
Forest Speyer — Resident Evil (video game)

What Forests become

Among 54 notable people named Forest:

Sports figures appear 1.57× more often than among typical names — e.g. Forest Able, American basketball player.

Spellings & nicknames

Together with its spelling variant Forrest (#374), Forest would rank around #284 with about 1,200 births last year — the newborns split about 71/29 between Forrest and Forest.

Similar names: Forrest · Major · Foster · Fletcher · Royal · West

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

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