Name of the Week

There's Lex for Alexander, Dex for Dexter,
yet kingly Rex can easily stand alone.

 

Origin:

Rex is a Latin titlular word meaning "king," related to regere "to keep straight, guide, lead, rule." It is cognate with the Sanskrit raja, Gaulish rīx, Irish ri, Welsh rhi, Cornish ruy, Old English ric, and is reconstructed as deriving from the Proto-Indo-European route *H3reg- "to straighten, to order, to rule." Rex is also a topographical surname meaning "dweller by the rushes," from the West Saxon rixe, rexe, a metathesized form of the Old English risc, rysc "rush." Recks, Ricks and Rixon are variants.

Usage:

The term Rex Romae 'King of Rome' dates back to 753 BC when, according to legend, the first king of Rome, Romulus, founded the city. Only seven kings reigned before the establishment of the Roman Republic, yet the word rex remained throughout the Republic and Empire in the title of the rex sacrorum "king of ceremony", Rome's first priest. In Britain, Rex has been used since the early Middle Ages to translate the word 'king' in Latin records, and as part of kings' insignias; coins dating from the reign of Henry II, for example, bear the inscription HENRI REX and HENRICUS REX. As a name, however, Rex was only found as the surname Rex, Recks and Ricks.  Use of Rex as a first name dates back to the 17th century, though instances are rare. There is a small cluster of baptisms with the name from London among the Kempton family in 1868, 1866 and 1745, though in most other records Rex was used as a middle name. In some cases, this would have been attributed to the surname, but in others it appears to be linked with the names of kings, such as George-Rex Warren born in 1788 and Edwardus Rex Hussy in 1819.  It came into more regular in use the 19th century, though it was still quite rare up until the end of the century. Birth registrations for the name in England and Wales were as follows: 1840-9: 0 1850-9: 0 1860-9: 1 1870-9: 5 1880-9: 20 1890-9: 101 1900-9: 370 1910-9: 792  1920-9: 1948 1930-9: 2506  Rex was actually more common during this period as a diminutive of Reginald — presumably a play on the genitive and dative form of the Latin rex: regis and regi — well known in the case of British Hollywood actor Rex Harrison. This explains why there are more instance of the name Rex listed on UK census records (32 in 1891; 149 in 1901; 610 in 1911) then there are records of it as a given name in the birth records, as several men named Rex were officially named Reginald. Rexford was another uncommon variant of the name.  According the Leslie Dunkling, in the 20th century Rex reached its peak in 1935 when 6 in every 10,000 boys received the name. The figure dropped to 2 from 1950 to 1960, after which it dropped out of his rankings, and 1 in every 10,00 in 1990. From 1996 to 2004, Rex had a birth count of between 4 (#2425 in 1999) and 23 (#865 in 2003) in England and Wales. It has since been steadily rising: #711 (39 births) in 2007, #675 (45 births) in 2009 and #501 (72 births) in 2011.    Rex did not rank at all in Scotland from 2005 to 2008 (though Rexford was registered once in 2007). It did garner 1 birth in 2009, 2 (#764) in 2010 and 5 (#475) in 2011. In 2012 Rex ranked #450 with 88 births in England and Wales and #819 with 2 births in Scotland.

Famous Bearers:

History:  * Rex Beach (1877–1949), American novelist, playwright, and Olympic water polo player. * Reginald "Rex" Corbett (1878–1967) was an English international footballer. * Rex Stout (1886–1975), American author noted for detective fiction. * Reginald "Rex" Pierson CBE (1891–1948), English aircraft designer who was responsible for the first aircraft to cross the Atlantic non-stop. * Rex Ingram (1892–1950), Irish film director, producer, writer and actor. * Rex Ingram (1895–1969), American film and stage actor. * Reginald "Rex" Warner (1905–1986), English classicist, writer and translator. * Reginald "Rex" Whistler (1905–1944), British artist, designer and illustrator. * Sir Reginald "Rex" Harrison (1908–1990), British film and stage actor. * Reginald "Rex" Ingamells (1913–1955), Australian poet. Contemporary: * Rex Smith (b.1955), American actor. * Rex Linn (b.1956), American actor. Celebrity Babies: * Rex Champion (b.2008), son of Coldplay drummer Will Champion, twin to Juno. * Rex Wickham (b.2010), son of writer Madeleine Wickham "Sophie Kinsella". * Rex Rayne Wood (b.2013), son of presenter Fearne Cotton and Jesse Wood, grandson of Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood.

Variants:

Rexford

Pronunciation:

REKS [key]

Possible longer forms:

Alexander, Dexter, Reginald, Regis, Regulus, Rexford, Reynold, Xavier

Sibling Names:

Nell     Ava     Marnie     Lyra     Alba     Belle   Leon     Mack     Everett    Jago     Otis    Roman

Name Lists:

Golden Age Hollywood    Guys and Dolls    Short and Sweet

 

If you like Rex you may also like:   Rafe, Maxim, Rhett, Axel, Rhys, Otto, Felix, Reed, Bix, Hugo

 

Thanks to Samantha for requesting Rex.