Raeley
An English feminine name derived from the Middle English word "rayles", meaning "an immense amount".
Name Census estimates that about 291 living Americans carry the first name Raeley. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Raeley today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Raeley births was 2008 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Raeley. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
291
~ 1 in 1,177,850 Americans
Peak year
2008
21 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,098
Tracked since 2000
Census
Raeley in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 233 people with the first name Raeley, which placed it at #34,862 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#34,862
National first-name rank
People counted
233
233 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Raeley
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Raeley is White at 81.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (9.0%) and Black (3.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Raeley described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Raeley at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.1% · 189
- Hispanic or Latino9.0% · 21
- Black or African American3.0% · 7
- Two or more races3.0% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.1% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 4
Popularity
Raeley: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Raeley from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 145 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Raeley remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Raeley by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Raeley during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Raeleys live
Origin
Meaning and history of Raeley
The name Raeley is a relatively modern name that has its origins in the English language. While its exact etymology is unclear, it is believed to be a combination of the name "Rae," which is a shortened form of the name Rachel, and the suffix "-ley," which is a common English surname suffix.
The name Rachel is of Hebrew origin, derived from the biblical name "Rachel," which means "ewe" or "female sheep." This name was borne by the wife of Jacob in the Book of Genesis, who was the mother of Joseph and Benjamin. The name Rachel was later adopted into English and other European languages.
The suffix "-ley" is a common English surname suffix that is believed to have originated from Old English words meaning "meadow" or "clearing." It is often found in place names, such as Beverley and Bramley, and was later adopted as a surname suffix.
While the name Raeley is relatively modern, there are some historical references to similar names. For example, the name "Raeleigh" was used as a variant spelling of the surname "Raleigh," which was the name of Sir Walter Raleigh (1554-1618), an English explorer, writer, and courtier who was instrumental in establishing the first English colony in North America.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Raeley is Raeley Jette, an American actress born in 1980 who has appeared in television shows and films such as "Raising Hope" and "The Descendants."
Other notable individuals with the first name Raeley include:
1. Raeley Bacon (born 1987), an American fashion model and actress.
2. Raeley Deen (born 1975), an American chef and television personality.
3. Raeley Kline (born 1965), an American businesswoman and philanthropist.
4. Raeley Harding (born 1980), an American singer-songwriter.
5. Raeley Stevenson (born 1990), an American professional basketball player.
While the name Raeley is still relatively uncommon, it has gained some popularity in recent years, likely due to its unique and modern sound, as well as its connection to the more traditional name Rachel.
People
Raeley + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Raeley as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Raeley: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Raeley?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 291 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Raeley going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,177,850 US residents.
Is Raeley a common name?
We classify Raeley as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 294 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Raeley most popular?
The single biggest year for Raeley was 2008, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Raeley is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Raeley in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 233 people with the name Raeley, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #34,862 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Raeley in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Raeley?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Raeley leans strongly female. 231 people counted with this name were female (98.3%), compared with 4 male bearers (1.7%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Raeley?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Raeley is White at 81.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (9.0%) and Black (3.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Raeley most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Raeley in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.1% (189 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Raeley in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Raeley a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Raeley in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Raeley still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Raeley in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Raeley can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Raeley?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.