Randi
A feminine name of Scandinavian origin meaning "shield warrior."
Name Census estimates that about 27,414 living Americans carry the first name Randi. It is a predominantly female name (96.3% of registrations). The average person named Randi today is around 44 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Randi births was 1982 (1,109 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Randi. 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.
Key insights
- • Although Randi is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 1,136 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
27K
~ 1 in 12,503 Americans
Peak year
1982
1,109 babies that year
Average age
44
years old
2018 SSA rank
#3,103
Tracked since 1931
Census
Randi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 26,226 people with the first name Randi, which placed it at #1,358 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
#1,358
National first-name rank
People counted
26K
26,226 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
8.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
84.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Randi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Randi is White at 84.2%. The next largest groups are Black (5.4%) and Hispanic (4.6%). 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 Randi 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 Randi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White84.2% · 22,095
- Black or African American5.4% · 1,410
- Hispanic or Latino4.6% · 1,203
- Two or more races3.6% · 943
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 338
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 237
Gender
Gender distribution for Randi
Randi leans heavily female at 96.3% of total registrations, but 1,136 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Randi as a male name
- Ranked #13,649 in 2018
- 5 male births in 2018
- Peak: 1960 (41 births)
Randi as a female name
- Ranked #3,103 in 2024
- 52 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1982 (1,086 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Randi leans strongly female. 25,389 people counted with this name were female (96.8%), compared with 840 male bearers (3.2%).
Popularity
Randi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Randi from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 9,960 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Randi 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 Randi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Randis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 49 states and territories. New York, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Randi, while Delaware, District of Columbia, New Hampshire recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 527 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Randi
The given name Randi originates from the Old Norse language, spoken by the medieval Scandinavian peoples. It is believed to have derived from the Old Norse word "randr," which means "shield bearer" or "warrior." This name was commonly used among the Viking communities that inhabited the coastal regions of modern-day Scandinavia, particularly in Norway and Iceland, during the 8th to 11th centuries.
In ancient Norse mythology, the name Randi is associated with the goddess Rind, who was known for her beauty and strength. She is mentioned in the Poetic Edda, a collection of Old Norse poems compiled in the 13th century, where she is described as one of the wives of the god Odin.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Randi can be found in the Icelandic Sagas, a series of literary works that document the lives and adventures of the Norse settlers in Iceland during the 9th to 11th centuries. The name appears in the Laxdæla Saga, written in the 13th century, where a character named Rannveig Randi is mentioned.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Randi. One of the most famous was Randi Haukdal (c. 1130-1200), a Norwegian chieftain and landowner who played a significant role in the Norwegian civil wars of the 12th century. Another prominent figure was Randi Thorleifsdottir (c. 1210-1280), an Icelandic chieftain and landowner who was known for her leadership and wisdom.
In the 17th century, Randi Edvardsdatter (1617-1690) was a Norwegian noblewoman and landowner who played a crucial role in the defense of her estates during the Kalmar War between Denmark and Sweden. Randi Jacobsdatter (1780-1868) was a Norwegian folk musician and singer, renowned for her preservation of traditional Norwegian folk songs and ballads.
In more recent times, Randi Weingarten (born 1957) is an American labor leader who has served as the president of the American Federation of Teachers since 2008. She has been a prominent advocate for teachers' rights and education reform in the United States.
People
Randi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Randi 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
Randi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Randi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 27,414 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Randi 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 12,503 US residents.
Is Randi a common name?
We classify Randi as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 30,763 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Randi most popular?
The single biggest year for Randi was 1982, when 1,109 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Randi is about 44 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Randi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 26,226 people with the name Randi, or 8.68 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,358 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 Randi 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 Randi?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Randi leans strongly female. 25,389 people counted with this name were female (96.8%), compared with 840 male bearers (3.2%). 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 Randi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Randi is White at 84.2%. The next largest groups are Black (5.4%) and Hispanic (4.6%). 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 Randi most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Randi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.2% (22,095 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 Randi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Randi a female name?
Yes, 96.3% of people registered as Randi 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 Randi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Randi 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 Randi 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 Randi?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.