Rawson
English name of uncertain origin, possibly from an Old Norse word meaning "son of Ralph".
Name Census estimates that about 103 living Americans carry the first name Rawson. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Rawson today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rawson births was 2013 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rawson. 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
103
~ 1 in 3,327,712 Americans
Peak year
2013
10 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2023 SSA rank
#13,704
Tracked since 1916
Census
Rawson in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 193 people with the first name Rawson, which placed it at #39,252 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
#39,252
National first-name rank
People counted
193
193 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
75.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rawson
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rawson is White at 75.6%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (6.7%) and Hispanic (6.2%). 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 Rawson 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 Rawson at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White75.6% · 146
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.7% · 13
- Hispanic or Latino6.2% · 12
- Two or more races6.2% · 12
- Black or African American4.7% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 1
Popularity
Rawson: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rawson from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 67 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
Rawson 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 Rawson 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 Rawson
The given name Rawson is of English origin, derived from the surname Rawson, which itself is a locational name referring to a person from Rawston or Rawson in Yorkshire, England. The name Rawson is thought to have originated in the 12th or 13th century.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Rawson can be found in the Hundred Rolls of 1273, where it appears as "Raueson." This suggests that the name was already in use by the late 13th century in England.
In terms of historical references, one notable bearer of the name was Sir Rawson Hart Boddam, a British naval officer and colonial administrator who served as the Governor of Bengal from 1828 to 1833. Another was Rawson William Rawson, a British soldier and colonial administrator who served as the Governor of the Bahamas from 1841 to 1848.
Moving forward in history, we have Rawson Marshall Thurber, an American filmmaker, and screenwriter born in 1976, best known for directing and co-writing the 2004 comedy film "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story."
Another notable bearer of the name is Rawson Marshall Thurber III, an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour in the 1970s and 1980s. He was born in 1946 and won three PGA Tour events during his career.
Lastly, Rawson Woodstock Rawson was a British artist and illustrator who lived from 1850 to 1929. He is best known for his illustrations in books such as "The Water Babies" by Charles Kingsley and "The Adventures of Pinocchio" by Carlo Collodi.
These examples showcase the diverse backgrounds and accomplishments of individuals who have borne the given name Rawson throughout history, highlighting its enduring presence across various cultures and time periods.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Rawson
People
Rawson + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rawson 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
Rawson: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rawson?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 103 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rawson 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 3,327,712 US residents.
Is Rawson a common name?
We classify Rawson as "Very Rare". It ranks above 65% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 116 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rawson most popular?
The single biggest year for Rawson was 2013, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rawson is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rawson in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 193 people with the name Rawson, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #39,252 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 Rawson 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 Rawson?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rawson leans strongly male. 176 people counted with this name were male (92.6%), compared with 14 female bearers (7.4%). 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 Rawson?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rawson is White at 75.6%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (6.7%) and Hispanic (6.2%). 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 Rawson most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Rawson in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.6% (146 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 Rawson in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rawson a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rawson 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 Rawson still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rawson 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 Rawson 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 Rawson?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.