Rayfield
A masculine name meaning "radiant or shining field".
Name Census estimates that about 878 living Americans carry the first name Rayfield. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Rayfield today is around 65 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rayfield births was 1949 (43 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rayfield. 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
- • The typical person named Rayfield is about 65 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Rayfields were born before 1971.
People living today
878
~ 1 in 390,381 Americans
Peak year
1949
43 babies that year
Average age
65
years old
2002 SSA rank
#12,089
Tracked since 1896
Census
Rayfield in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 680 people with the first name Rayfield, which placed it at #16,535 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
#16,535
National first-name rank
People counted
680
680 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
86.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rayfield
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rayfield is Black at 86.8%. The next largest groups are White (6.6%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Rayfield 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 Rayfield at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American86.8% · 590
- White6.6% · 45
- Two or more races3.2% · 22
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 11
- Hispanic or Latino1.5% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 2
Popularity
Rayfield: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rayfield from the 1890s through to the 2000s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 333 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
Rayfield 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 Rayfield during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rayfields live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. Georgia, Louisiana, Texas recorded the most babies named Rayfield, while Tennessee, New York, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 20 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rayfield
The name Rayfield is an English given name that emerged during the Middle Ages, around the 13th century. It is derived from the Old English words "raed" meaning "counsel" or "advice" and "feld" meaning "field" or "open land." The name was likely given to individuals who lived in a field or open area and were known for their wisdom and counsel.
One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name Rayfield was Sir Rayfield de Wilton, a knight who served under King Edward III during the Hundred Years' War in the 14th century. He was noted for his bravery and strategic counsel on the battlefield.
In the 15th century, a prominent figure named Rayfield Chaucer, believed to be a distant relative of the famous poet Geoffrey Chaucer, was a wealthy merchant and landowner in London. His name appears in several historical records and documents from that era.
During the English Renaissance, a playwright and poet named Rayfield Marlowe lived in the 16th century. While not as renowned as his contemporary William Shakespeare, Marlowe's works, such as "The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus," were influential in the development of English drama.
In the 17th century, Rayfield Cromwell, a distant cousin of Oliver Cromwell, was a prominent Puritan minister and author. He wrote several theological treatises and sermons that were widely read during the English Civil War period.
Moving into the 18th century, Rayfield Newton was a noted mathematician and astronomer who made significant contributions to the field of celestial mechanics. He worked alongside Sir Isaac Newton and his name is mentioned in various scientific journals and papers from that time.
Throughout its history, the name Rayfield has been borne by individuals from various walks of life, including scholars, military leaders, artists, and religious figures. While not as common as some other English names, it has endured as a unique and distinctive name with a rich historical background.
People
Rayfield + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rayfield 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
Rayfield: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rayfield?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 878 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rayfield 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 390,381 US residents.
Is Rayfield a common name?
We classify Rayfield as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,873 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rayfield most popular?
The single biggest year for Rayfield was 1949, when 43 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rayfield is about 65 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rayfield in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 680 people with the name Rayfield, or 0.23 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,535 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 Rayfield 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 Rayfield?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rayfield appears almost entirely male. Of the 676 people counted with this name, 100.0% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Rayfield?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rayfield is Black at 86.8%. The next largest groups are White (6.6%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Rayfield most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Rayfield in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.8% (590 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 Rayfield in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rayfield a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rayfield 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 Rayfield still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rayfield 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 Rayfield 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 Americans are named Rayfield?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.