Cree is a gender-neutral name used mostly in the United States. It comes from the Cree, the name of a Native American and First Nations tribe that resides in Canada and parts of the United States. (The Cree are the largest First Nations tribe in Canada.)
Cree is the name given to the tribe by outsiders. Cree people refer to themselves by many names, but most commonly as Nehiyawak. The Ojibwa, another indigenous North American tribe, used the word "Kiristino" to refer to the Nehiyawak. The French adopted that name for the tribe, and it eventually became "Cree" in English.
Today, the Cree people live throughout Canada, mainly in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. In the U.S., Cree live mostly in Montana, where they share the Rocky Boy Indian Reservation with the Ojibwe (Chippewa) people. There are about 350,000 Cree people living in North America, according to Canada's 2016 census.
The names of many U.S. states and cities come from native tribes, and some popular baby names do, too – including Cheyenne, Cherokee, and Dakota.
Cree is also a last name in Scotland and many parts of Europe. It has no relation to the given name Cree found in the U.S. As a surname, Cree may derive from Scottish towns formerly called Crieff or Criech. The English Cree is possibly a derivative of the last name Mackree.
Cree Cicchino : American actress who appeared in Nickelodeon show Game Shakers
Cree Summer : American actress best known for her role in the TV show A Different World; also voiced dozens of characters, including Penny in the 1983 Inspector Gadget cartoon series, as well as characters in The Powerpuff Girls, Clifford the Big Red Dog, and Rugrats
Steven Cree : Scottish actor known for his role in the TV series Outlander