Red

Where Red comes from

The dictionaries list Red as a given name — a nickname given to someone who has or had red hair — but don't trace where it came from. The record below is what the SSA data shows.

Along the way
  1. 1888
    First appearance
    #1,031 among boys, 5 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1890
    Peak, #884
    6 babies named Red — more than any year before or since.
  3. 1891
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births.
  4. 1917
    Red Auerbach born
    American basketball coach
  5. 1919
    Red Buttons born
    American comedian and actor
In the dictionary
  • A nickname given to someone who has or had red hair.
Namesakes
  • Red Buttons · American comedian and actor, 1919–2006
  • Red Auerbach · American basketball coach, 1917–2006
  • Red Skelton · American comedian, 1913–1997
  • Red Mitchell · American jazz double-bassist, composer, lyricist, and poet, 1927–1992
  • Red Amick · racecar driver, 1929–1995

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.