Reyes

• Origin: Spanish
• Meaning: “kings.”
• Gender: Unisex
• Pron: REY-es

From the Marian title La Virgen de los Reyes (“The Virgin of the Kings”). According to Sevillian legend, King Ferdinand III of Castile had a vision of the Virgin Mary while encamped outside Seville, in which she promised him that he would conquer the city. The Virgen de los Reyes is the patroness of Seville and its archdiocese.

Reyes is used for both males and females in Spain, though it is considerably more common among females. There are currently over 5,000 women named Reyes in Spain, with the name seeing much of its usage during the latter half of the 20th century. Its usage is particularly associated with Seville, owing to the city’s devotion to the Virgen de los Reyes.

Its designated name-day in Spain is August 15th, which coincides with the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.

It’s usage has spread to the rest of the Spanish-Speaking world.

Reyes has sporadically appeared among the U.S. Top 1000 male names, first appearing in 1908 and again in 1928, 1940, 1942, 1945–1950, 1953–1954 and 1969. It reached its highest rank of #868 in 1954. Although it has not returned to the Top 1000 since 1969, the name continues to be sporadically bestowed on boys in the United States.

The Spanish diminutive Reyesita is occasionally used, though Reyes does not appear to have any widely established traditional short forms.

A Catalan variation is Reis.

Sources

• https://www.behindthename.com/name/reyes
• https://colectivacuriosidad.com/nombres/reyes
• Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua. Vocabulari de noms de persona. 2nd ed. València: Publicacions de l’Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua, 2017.
• https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgen_de_los_Reyes_(Sevilla)