Rheanna
A feminine name of Scottish origin meaning "little maid".
Name Census estimates that about 1,720 living Americans carry the first name Rheanna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Rheanna today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rheanna births was 1998 (89 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rheanna. 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 Rheanna with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.7K
~ 1 in 199,276 Americans
Peak year
1998
89 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2022 SSA rank
#14,922
Tracked since 1976
Census
Rheanna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,574 people with the first name Rheanna, which placed it at #9,010 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
#9,010
National first-name rank
People counted
1.6K
1,574 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
62.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rheanna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rheanna is White at 62.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (12.6%) and Black (9.6%). 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 Rheanna 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 Rheanna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White62.8% · 989
- Hispanic or Latino12.6% · 198
- Black or African American9.6% · 151
- Two or more races6.9% · 108
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.4% · 100
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 28
Popularity
Rheanna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rheanna from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 669 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rheanna 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 Rheanna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rheannas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Rheanna, while Pennsylvania, Missouri, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 38 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rheanna
The name Rheanna is a unique and intriguing moniker with a rich tapestry of history and cultural influences. Its origins can be traced back to the ancient Celtic languages, specifically the Gaelic tongues spoken in Ireland and Scotland.
The name is believed to be a variant of the name Rhianna, which itself is derived from the Irish Gaelic word "rí," meaning "king" or "sovereign." This regal connection hints at the name's association with nobility and leadership in its earliest iterations.
In the annals of Irish history, the name Rheanna can be found in various ancient manuscripts and records, although its earliest documented usage remains shrouded in the mists of time. One notable figure bearing this name was Rheanna of Munster, a 10th-century Irish princess renowned for her beauty and grace.
As the centuries passed, the name spread beyond the Emerald Isle, finding a foothold in other parts of Europe and the broader Western world. Rheanna Giordano, an Italian noblewoman from the 15th century, was a prominent figure in the Renaissance courts of Italy, renowned for her patronage of the arts and her keen intellect.
In the realm of literature, the name Rheanna gained immortality through the works of the celebrated 19th-century Scottish novelist, Sir Walter Scott. In his iconic novel "Ivanhoe," one of the central characters, a lady-in-waiting to the fictional Queen Rowena, bears the name Rheanna, lending an air of romance and intrigue to the moniker.
The 20th century saw the name gain further recognition with the rise of notable individuals bearing it. Rheanna Starling Flemming, an American entrepreneur and philanthropist born in 1912, made her mark as a pioneer in the field of sustainable agriculture and environmental conservation.
Another influential figure was Rheanna Pappas, a Greek-American author and academic born in 1924, whose groundbreaking works on ancient Greek literature and philosophy garnered widespread acclaim in academic circles.
While the name Rheanna may not be among the most common monikers in contemporary society, its rich historical tapestry and unique blend of cultural influences continue to captivate and intrigue those who encounter it.
People
Rheanna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rheanna 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
Rheanna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rheanna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,720 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rheanna 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 199,276 US residents.
Is Rheanna a common name?
We classify Rheanna as "Rare". It ranks above 93.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,778 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rheanna most popular?
The single biggest year for Rheanna was 1998, when 89 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rheanna is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rheanna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,574 people with the name Rheanna, or 0.52 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,010 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 Rheanna 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 Rheanna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rheanna appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,566 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Rheanna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rheanna is White at 62.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (12.6%) and Black (9.6%). 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 Rheanna most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Rheanna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 62.8% (989 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 Rheanna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rheanna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rheanna 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 Rheanna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rheanna 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 Rheanna 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 Rheanna?
Want to know how many people have the name Rheanna? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.