Reed is an English surname from the Old English read, "red", given to someone with red hair or a ruddy face; it also calls up the slender reed plant by the water. Walter Reed, the army doctor who proved that mosquitoes spread yellow fever, is a famous bearer and the namesake of the military hospital. Reed has been in the US top 1000 all century, peaked at number 318 in 2014 and sits at number 419 in 2025.