Raileigh
An English feminine name derived from the surname Raleigh, of place name origin.
Name Census estimates that about 243 living Americans carry the first name Raileigh. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Raileigh today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Raileigh births was 2013 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Raileigh. 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
243
~ 1 in 1,410,512 Americans
Peak year
2013
19 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#17,074
Tracked since 2002
Popularity
Raileigh: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Raileigh 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 146 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Raileigh 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 Raileigh during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Raileigh
The name Raileigh is believed to have originated from the Old English language, derived from the words "ræd" (meaning "advice" or "counsel") and "leah" (meaning "meadow" or "clearing"). It is thought to have first emerged in the early medieval period, around the 5th or 6th century AD, in the regions of what is now southern England.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Raileigh can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of land ownership and resources commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears as "Radleia," likely referring to a person or a place.
In the 12th century, a prominent figure named Raileigh (or Radelegh) was mentioned in the chronicles of the time. He was a nobleman and landowner in the county of Essex, England, during the reign of King Henry II (1154-1189). This early usage of the name lends credence to its English origins.
Throughout the centuries, several notable individuals have borne the name Raileigh. One of the most famous was Sir Walter Raleigh (c. 1552-1618), an English writer, explorer, and courtier who played a significant role in the English Renaissance. He was a favorite of Queen Elizabeth I and was involved in establishing the first English colony in North America, on Roanoke Island.
Another prominent figure was John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh (1842-1919), a British physicist who made significant contributions to the study of optics and the discovery of argon. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1904 for his investigations into the densities of the most important gases and for his discovery of argon.
In the realm of literature, Sir Walter Raleigh (1861-1922) was an English scholar, poet, and author who served as a Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford. He is known for his influential works on literary criticism, including "Shakespeare" and "The English Novel."
While the name Raileigh has its roots in Old English, its usage has been more prevalent in Britain and English-speaking countries. Over time, it has evolved into various spellings, such as Raleigh, Rayleigh, and Ralley, but the core meaning and origin remain rooted in the words "advice" and "meadow."
People
Raileigh + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Raileigh 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
Raileigh: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Raileigh?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 243 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Raileigh 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 1,410,512 US residents.
Is Raileigh a common name?
We classify Raileigh as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 245 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Raileigh most popular?
The single biggest year for Raileigh was 2013, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Raileigh is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Raileigh in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Raileigh a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Raileigh 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 Raileigh still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Raileigh 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 Raileigh 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people share the name Raileigh?
You can see how many people share the name Raileigh on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.