Rand
A masculine given name derived from an Old English language term for "rim" or "border".
Name Census estimates that about 2,460 living Americans carry the first name Rand. It is a predominantly male name (95.6% of registrations). The average person named Rand today is around 52 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rand births was 1952 (112 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rand. 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 Rand with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Rand is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 135 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
2.5K
~ 1 in 139,331 Americans
Peak year
1952
112 babies that year
Average age
52
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,991
Tracked since 1913
Census
Rand in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,174 people with the first name Rand, which placed it at #5,425 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
#5,425
National first-name rank
People counted
3.2K
3,174 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
89.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rand
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rand is White at 89.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.3%) and Hispanic (2.4%). 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 Rand 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 Rand at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.7% · 2,846
- Two or more races3.3% · 105
- Hispanic or Latino2.4% · 77
- Black or African American2.4% · 75
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 59
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 12
Gender
Gender distribution for Rand
Rand leans heavily male at 95.6% of total registrations, but 135 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Rand as a male name
- Ranked #4,991 in 2024
- 20 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1952 (112 births)
Rand as a female name
- Ranked #13,108 in 2024
- 7 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2014 (13 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rand leans strongly male. 2,627 people counted with this name were male (82.8%), compared with 545 female bearers (17.2%).
Popularity
Rand: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rand from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 982 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rand 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 Rand during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rands live
The SSA's state-level files cover 20 states and territories. California, New York, Michigan recorded the most babies named Rand, while Texas, Oregon, Missouri recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 40 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rand
The name Rand originates from the Old English word "rand," meaning "border" or "edge." It is believed to have first emerged in the Anglo-Saxon period, which spanned from the 5th to the 11th centuries AD in what is now England. The name was likely used to describe someone who lived near a border or on the outskirts of a settlement.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Rand can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive record of landowners and their estates in England, compiled in 1086 by order of William the Conqueror. The book mentions a landowner named Rand living in Lincolnshire, England.
In the 13th century, a Norwegian chieftain named Rand Ketilsson is mentioned in the Icelandic sagas, a collection of historical narratives. He is described as a powerful and influential figure in the region.
During the Renaissance period, a German philosopher and humanist named Johannes Rande (1494-1548) gained recognition for his works on logic and metaphysics. He was also known for his teachings at the University of Wittenberg.
In the 17th century, an English mathematician and astronomer named John Rand (1609-1692) made significant contributions to the field of optics. He is credited with developing an early compound microscope and discovering the phenomenon of spherical aberration in lenses.
Fast forward to the 20th century, Rand Corporation, a prominent American think tank, was founded in 1948 by Douglas Aircraft Company. The name "Rand" was chosen to honor the corporation's first major project, which was to research and develop a long-range navigation system for the United States Air Force.
Throughout history, the name Rand has been carried by various individuals, including authors, artists, scientists, and political figures, each leaving their mark in their respective fields.
People
Rand + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rand 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
Rand: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rand?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,460 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rand 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 139,331 US residents.
Is Rand a common name?
We classify Rand as "Rare". It ranks above 94.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,080 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rand most popular?
The single biggest year for Rand was 1952, when 112 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rand is about 52 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rand in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,174 people with the name Rand, or 1.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,425 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 Rand 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 Rand?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rand leans strongly male. 2,627 people counted with this name were male (82.8%), compared with 545 female bearers (17.2%). 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 Rand?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rand is White at 89.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.3%) and Hispanic (2.4%). 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 Rand most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Rand in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.7% (2,846 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 Rand in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rand a male name?
Yes, 95.6% of people registered as Rand 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 Rand still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rand 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 Rand 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 called Rand?
You can see how many Americans are named Rand on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.