Spanish for 'kings,' often given in honor of the Epiphany (Día de los Reyes).
Reyes comes from the Spanish word for 'kings,' derived from the Latin reges, the plural of rex. As a surname it originated as a geographic or descriptive marker in medieval Iberia, often given to families who lived near a royal palace, worked in royal service, or were born around the Feast of the Epiphany — Día de Reyes, the Day of Kings, when the three Magi are celebrated on January 6th. This last connection is particularly strong in Latin American cultures, where Reyes is one of the most common surnames and where Epiphany remains a major gift-giving holiday rivaling Christmas.
As a given name, Reyes began gaining traction in the United States during the late twentieth century as Spanish surnames increasingly crossed over into first-name usage, a trend driven in part by Latino families honoring their heritage and in part by the broader cultural appetite for surnames-as-first-names. It carries a natural authority — the etymological weight of royalty — without the stuffiness of names like Rex or the biblical gravity of names like David. The name is gender-flexible in contemporary usage, appearing on both boys and girls, though it skews masculine.
Notable bearers include Reyes Magos figures in religious pageantry across the Spanish-speaking world, and in popular culture the name has appeared in films and television as a mark of Latino identity and pride. The singer known as Reyes from the Chilean pop world and various professional athletes have also carried the name into public consciousness. For families with Spanish-speaking roots, it is a name that honors ancestry while translating effortlessly across cultures.