Rayna
Of Arabic origin meaning "a queen" or "bird of paradise".
Name Census estimates that about 12,486 living Americans carry the first name Rayna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Rayna today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rayna births was 2019 (449 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rayna. 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 Rayna with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
12K
~ 1 in 27,451 Americans
Peak year
2019
449 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2024 SSA rank
#732
Tracked since 1932
Census
Rayna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 10,652 people with the first name Rayna, which placed it at #2,361 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
#2,361
National first-name rank
People counted
11K
10,652 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
55.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rayna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rayna is White at 55.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.4%) and Black (13.2%). 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 Rayna 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 Rayna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White55.4% · 5,903
- Hispanic or Latino14.4% · 1,537
- Black or African American13.2% · 1,407
- Two or more races7.9% · 839
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.7% · 821
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 145
Popularity
Rayna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rayna from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 3,657 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Rayna remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rayna 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 Rayna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Raynas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 42 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Rayna, while Alaska, New Mexico, Delaware recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 227 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rayna
The name Rayna has its origins in the Sanskrit language, which is an ancient Indo-Aryan language from the Indian subcontinent. The name is derived from the Sanskrit word "rajna," which means "queen" or "princess." It is believed to have been used as a name for girls in India as early as the 6th century BCE.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Rayna can be found in the Hindu epic poem, the Mahabharata. In this ancient text, Rayna is mentioned as the name of a princess who was known for her beauty and grace.
In the 12th century, the name Rayna gained popularity in the Middle East, particularly in the Persian culture. During this time, the name was often spelled as "Rayina" or "Raina." It was associated with royalty and was commonly given to daughters of noble families.
Throughout history, there have been several notable women who bore the name Rayna. One of the earliest was Rayna of Trebizond (1330-1363), a Byzantine princess who ruled the Empire of Trebizond in modern-day Turkey.
Another significant figure was Rayna Kashabova (1837-1891), a Bulgarian revolutionary and women's rights activist who played a crucial role in the struggle for Bulgarian independence from the Ottoman Empire.
In the 20th century, Rayna Gailliard (1923-2019) was an American soprano and civil rights activist who performed at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy in 1961.
Rayna Kozhuharova (born 1963) is a Bulgarian writer and poet who has received numerous awards for her literary works, including the prestigious Vick Prize for Literature in 2018.
Rayna Prahova (1847-1918) was a Bulgarian teacher and feminist who founded the first girls' school in the country and played a pivotal role in advancing women's education and rights.
While the name Rayna has its roots in ancient cultures, it continues to be used in various parts of the world today, carrying with it a sense of regal elegance and strength.
People
Rayna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rayna 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
Rayna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rayna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 12,486 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rayna 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 27,451 US residents.
Is Rayna a common name?
We classify Rayna as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 13,038 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rayna most popular?
The single biggest year for Rayna was 2019, when 449 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rayna is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rayna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 10,652 people with the name Rayna, or 3.53 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,361 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 Rayna 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 Rayna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rayna appears almost entirely female. Of the 10,648 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Rayna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rayna is White at 55.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.4%) and Black (13.2%). 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 Rayna most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Rayna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.4% (5,903 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 Rayna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rayna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rayna 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 Rayna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rayna 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 Rayna 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 common is the name Rayna?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Rayna at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.