Given name & surname
Reu
“friend”·“associate”
Reu is used as a given name and a surname.
Original Hebrewרעו
Meaning & origin
What it means
As a biblical name, Reu means “friend” or “associate.”
From biblical name research
Where it comes from
Reu is a biblical name from Hebrew.
From biblical name research
How it developed
From the Hebrew noun rea' (רע), “friend or associate.”
From biblical name research
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 2021. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
In the Bible
In the Bible, the name Reu appears in Genesis 11:18, Luke 3:35.
- Genesis 11:18
- Luke 3:35
From biblical name research
Reu through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 5
- 5 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2021
- 5 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 5 in 2021. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 242 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Reu’s family of names
In Japanese usage, Reu is a Roman-alphabet rendering of 遼.
The ring: spellings.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
See also 8
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
Similar names
If you love Reu, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Esrom
“enclosure” · “cluster”
>99% boys
Eldad
“God has loved” · “whom God loves”
>99% boys
Sidon
“fishery” · “hunting place”
>99% boys
Ezekias
“Yah strengthens”
>99% boys
Kallai
“sparky” · “frivolous”
>99% boys
Akan
“but perhaps twist”
>99% boys
Eker
“offshoot”
>99% boys
Abaddon
“destructive one” · “place of destruction”
>99% boys