Raeven
Raeven is a modern invented name, likely inspired by the bird raven.
Name Census estimates that about 770 living Americans carry the first name Raeven. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Raeven today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Raeven births was 1993 (69 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Raeven. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Raeven with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
770
~ 1 in 445,136 Americans
Peak year
1993
69 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2024 SSA rank
#14,828
Tracked since 1982
Census
Raeven in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 619 people with the first name Raeven, which placed it at #17,674 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
#17,674
National first-name rank
People counted
619
619 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
49.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Raeven
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Raeven is Black at 49.4%. The next largest groups are White (22.9%) and Hispanic (12.9%). 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 Raeven 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 Raeven at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American49.4% · 306
- White22.9% · 142
- Hispanic or Latino12.9% · 80
- Two or more races10.7% · 66
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 18
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 7
Popularity
Raeven: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Raeven from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 433 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Raeven 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 Raeven during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Raevens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. Texas, California, Virginia recorded the most babies named Raeven, while Louisiana, Georgia, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 20 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Raeven
The name Raeven is believed to have its origins in the Old English language, with roots tracing back to the Anglo-Saxon era in Britain. The name is thought to be derived from the Old English word "hræfn," meaning "raven," a bird that held significant symbolic meaning in ancient Germanic and Norse cultures.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Raeven can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive record of landowners and tenants in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. In this text, the name appears as "Hræfn," reflecting its Old English roots.
During the Middle Ages, the name Raeven gained popularity in certain regions of England and was often associated with individuals of noble or warrior backgrounds. This association likely stemmed from the raven's symbolic representation of strength, courage, and intelligence in various Germanic and Norse mythologies.
One notable historical figure bearing the name Raeven was Raeven Ætheling, a nobleman and military leader who fought alongside King Harold II during the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. Ætheling's bravery and loyalty to the Anglo-Saxon cause earned him a place in the annals of English history.
Another prominent individual with the name Raeven was Raeven de Montfort, a 13th-century French nobleman and crusader who participated in the Fifth and Sixth Crusades. De Montfort's exploits during these campaigns were recorded in various chronicles and accounts of the time.
In the realm of literature, the name Raeven appears in the works of the renowned English poet Geoffrey Chaucer, who lived from approximately 1343 to 1400. Chaucer's Canterbury Tales feature a character named Raeven, a representation of the raven's symbolic association with wisdom and foresight.
During the Renaissance period, the name Raeven was adopted by several notable figures, including Raeven Hawkyns (c. 1535 - 1595), an English explorer and naval commander who played a significant role in the early stages of English colonization efforts in the Americas.
Another historical figure bearing the name Raeven was Raeven Shelley (1792 - 1822), an English Romantic poet celebrated for his lyrical works and radical philosophical views. Shelley's poetry often explored themes of nature, freedom, and the human condition, reflecting the symbolic richness of the raven in literary tradition.
People
Raeven + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Raeven 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
Raeven: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Raeven?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 770 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Raeven 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 445,136 US residents.
Is Raeven a common name?
We classify Raeven as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 790 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Raeven most popular?
The single biggest year for Raeven was 1993, when 69 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Raeven is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Raeven in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 619 people with the name Raeven, or 0.20 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,674 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 Raeven 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 Raeven?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Raeven leans strongly female. 597 people counted with this name were female (96.0%), compared with 25 male bearers (4.0%). 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 Raeven?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Raeven is Black at 49.4%. The next largest groups are White (22.9%) and Hispanic (12.9%). 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 Raeven most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Raeven in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.4% (306 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 Raeven in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Raeven a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Raeven 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 Raeven still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Raeven 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 Raeven 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 Americans are named Raeven?
See how many Americans are named Raeven on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.