Rahil
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "traveler" or "wanderer".
Name Census estimates that about 690 living Americans carry the first name Rahil. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 76.9% of registrations being male. The average person named Rahil today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rahil births was 2024 (44 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rahil. 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 Rahil with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
690
~ 1 in 496,745 Americans
Peak year
2024
44 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,620
Tracked since 1980
Census
Rahil in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 867 people with the first name Rahil, which placed it at #13,799 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
#13,799
National first-name rank
People counted
867
867 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
78.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rahil
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rahil is Asian/Pacific Islander at 78.3%. The next largest groups are White (12.3%) and Two or More Races (4.7%). 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 Rahil 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 Rahil at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander78.3% · 679
- White12.3% · 107
- Two or more races4.7% · 41
- Black or African American3.0% · 26
- Hispanic or Latino1.3% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Rahil
Rahil is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 698 total registrations, 537 (76.9%) were male and 161 (23.1%) were female.
Rahil as a male name
- Ranked #6,378 in 2024
- 14 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2004 (29 births)
Rahil as a female name
- Ranked #4,620 in 2024
- 30 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (30 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Rahil on both sides of the split. Of the 870 people counted with this name, 681 were male (78.3%) and 189 were female (21.7%).
Popularity
Rahil: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rahil from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 214 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Rahil remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rahil 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 Rahil during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rahils live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, New York, Illinois recorded the most babies named Rahil, while Texas, New Jersey, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 15 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rahil
The name Rahil is derived from the Arabic language and has its roots in the Middle East. It is believed to have originated during the 7th century AD, around the time of the advent of Islam.
The name Rahil is thought to be a variant of the Arabic name Raheel, which means "traveler" or "one who journeys." It is a masculine name that has been used throughout the Arab world for centuries.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Rahil can be found in the historical accounts of the Abbasid Caliphate, which ruled over vast territories in the Middle East and North Africa from the 8th to the 13th century. During this time, there are records of individuals bearing the name Rahil, although specific details about their lives are scarce.
In Islamic literature, the name Rahil is not explicitly mentioned in the Quran or other religious texts. However, the concept of travel and journeying is a recurring theme in Islamic teachings, which may have influenced the popularity of names related to these concepts.
Throughout history, there have been several notable figures who bore the name Rahil. One of the most famous was Rahil Ghandi, an Indian independence activist and follower of Mahatma Gandhi. He was born in 1900 and played a significant role in the Indian independence movement, actively participating in non-violent protests against British rule.
Another prominent individual with the name Rahil was Rahil Siddiqi, a renowned Urdu poet from Pakistan. Born in 1906, Siddiqi was widely acclaimed for his literary contributions and was awarded the prestigious Pride of Performance award by the Pakistani government in 1989.
In the world of sports, Rahil Qazi was a Pakistani cricketer who played for the national team in the 1970s and 1980s. He was a skilled batsman and represented Pakistan in several Test matches and One Day International (ODI) games.
Rahil Mozaffarieh was an Iranian-German actor and director, born in 1975. He gained recognition for his roles in various films and television shows, including the acclaimed German crime series "Tatort."
Finally, Rahil Ganjoee was an Iranian poet and writer who lived during the 11th century AD. He is celebrated for his contributions to Persian literature and is considered one of the most influential poets of his time.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have borne the name Rahil throughout history, showcasing its enduring presence across different cultures and time periods.
People
Rahil + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rahil 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
Rahil: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rahil?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 690 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rahil 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 496,745 US residents.
Is Rahil a common name?
We classify Rahil as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 698 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rahil most popular?
The single biggest year for Rahil was 2024, when 44 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rahil is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rahil in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 867 people with the name Rahil, or 0.29 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,799 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 Rahil 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 Rahil?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Rahil on both sides of the split. Of the 870 people counted with this name, 681 were male (78.3%) and 189 were female (21.7%). 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 Rahil?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rahil is Asian/Pacific Islander at 78.3%. The next largest groups are White (12.3%) and Two or More Races (4.7%). 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 Rahil most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Rahil in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.3% (679 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 Rahil in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rahil a male name?
Yes, 76.9% of people registered as Rahil in the SSA data are male. 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 Rahil still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rahil 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 Rahil 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 have Rahil as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.