Forest is a boy name with a classic feel, drawn from real birth records. Below you'll find what Forest means and where it comes from, plus how many babies have been named Forest across the United States, UK, Ireland and New Zealand, how popular Forest has been over the decades, and the year it peaked.
Forest is a boy name of Old French origin meaning “woodland, forest”. A variant of Forrest, from a surname for a forest dweller.
| Country | Births on record |
|---|---|
| United States since 1880 | 18,377 births |
| England & Wales since 1996 | 406 births |
| Scotland since 1974 | 16 births |
Counts come from official national birth-registration statistics: U.S. Social Security Administration, England & Wales (Office for National Statistics), Scotland (National Records of Scotland), Northern Ireland (NISRA), Ireland (Central Statistics Office) and New Zealand (Dept. of Internal Affairs). Coverage spans differ, so totals aren't directly comparable across countries.
Babies named Forest per year, United States (1880 to 2025). United States peaked in 2022 (391/yr) · England & Wales peaked in 2023 (75/yr) · Scotland peaked in 2020 (5/yr).
Forest is an uncommon baby name in the United States. It was most common in 2022, when it ranked #1,420 nationally (given to 449 babies that year).
Forrest · Frosty · Frost · Forrestt · Forestt · Farista
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