Forrest is a surname and nature name meaning "forest" or "woodland dweller", from the Old French forest; the double r spelling comes from the family name. Americans know it from the 1994 film Forrest Gump, whose gentle hero gave the name a lasting place in pop culture. Forrest returned to the US top 1000 in 2013 and has climbed to number 374 in 2025, its best rank this century.