Rayma
Feminine name derived from Spanish 'rayo' meaning 'beam' or 'ray'.
Name Census estimates that about 454 living Americans carry the first name Rayma. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Rayma today is around 69 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rayma births was 1947 (45 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rayma. 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 Rayma is about 69 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Raymas were born before 1967.
People living today
454
~ 1 in 754,966 Americans
Peak year
1947
45 babies that year
Average age
69
years old
2022 SSA rank
#14,904
Tracked since 1911
Census
Rayma in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 731 people with the first name Rayma, which placed it at #15,661 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
#15,661
National first-name rank
People counted
731
731 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
76.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rayma
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rayma is White at 76.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.7%) and Black (4.1%). 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 Rayma 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 Rayma at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.1% · 556
- Hispanic or Latino10.7% · 78
- Black or African American4.1% · 30
- Two or more races3.8% · 28
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.7% · 20
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.6% · 19
Popularity
Rayma: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rayma from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 256 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rayma 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 Rayma during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Raymas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. Missouri, Texas, Kansas recorded the most babies named Rayma, while Pennsylvania, California, Oklahoma recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 13 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rayma
The name Rayma is believed to have its origins in the Arabic language, where it is considered a variation of the name Rima. It is thought to have emerged during the medieval period in regions with significant Arab cultural influence.
Rayma is derived from the Arabic word "ramy," which translates to "throwing" or "shooting." This connection suggests that the name may have been associated with archery or other skills related to projectile weapons, which were highly valued in ancient Arab societies.
While there are no definitive records of the name Rayma appearing in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is possible that it was used as a name during the Islamic Golden Age, a period of significant cultural and scientific advancement in the Arab world between the 8th and 13th centuries.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Rayma was Rayma al-Andalusi, a renowned poet and scholar who lived in Cordoba, Spain, during the 11th century. Her work is considered an important contribution to the literary tradition of the Andalusian period.
Another notable figure with the name Rayma was Rayma bint al-Hasan, a princess of the Umayyad dynasty who lived in the 8th century. She was known for her patronage of the arts and her support of poets and scholars during her time.
In the 13th century, Rayma al-Baghdadi was a influential mathematician and astronomer who made significant contributions to the field of trigonometry. Her work was highly regarded and influential in the development of Islamic science.
During the 16th century, Rayma al-Maghrebi was a celebrated calligrapher and artist who was renowned for her intricate and beautiful calligraphic works. Her pieces were highly sought after and can still be found in various museums and collections around the world.
In more recent times, Rayma Suprani was a renowned Syrian author and activist who lived in the 20th century. She was a vocal advocate for women's rights and education, and her literary works often explored themes of social justice and empowerment.
People
Rayma + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rayma 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
Rayma: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rayma?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 454 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rayma 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 754,966 US residents.
Is Rayma a common name?
We classify Rayma as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,046 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rayma most popular?
The single biggest year for Rayma was 1947, when 45 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rayma is about 69 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rayma in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 731 people with the name Rayma, or 0.24 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,661 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 Rayma 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 Rayma?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rayma appears almost entirely female. Of the 738 people counted with this name, 99.2% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Rayma?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rayma is White at 76.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.7%) and Black (4.1%). 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 Rayma most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Rayma in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.1% (556 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 Rayma in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rayma a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rayma 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 Rayma still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rayma 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 Rayma 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 have Rayma as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.