Raed
A masculine Arabic name meaning "pioneer" or "guide".
Name Census estimates that about 445 living Americans carry the first name Raed. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Raed today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Raed births was 2022 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Raed. 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 Raed with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
445
~ 1 in 770,234 Americans
Peak year
2022
23 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,087
Tracked since 1975
Census
Raed in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,453 people with the first name Raed, which placed it at #9,518 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
#9,518
National first-name rank
People counted
1.5K
1,453 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
86.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Raed
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Raed is White at 86.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.5%). 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 Raed 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 Raed at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White86.9% · 1,262
- Two or more races5.2% · 75
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.5% · 65
- Hispanic or Latino2.2% · 32
- Black or African American1.3% · 19
Popularity
Raed: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Raed from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 138 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Raed remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Raed 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 Raed 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 Raed
The name Raed has its origins in Arabic, where it is derived from the root word "ra'ada," meaning "to thunder" or "to roar." It is a masculine name that has been used in the Arab world for centuries.
The earliest recorded usage of the name Raed can be traced back to the 7th century, during the era of the Islamic Golden Age. It is believed that the name was initially given to individuals who were known for their powerful and resonant voices or their ability to command attention and respect.
One of the earliest known historical figures to bear the name Raed was Raed ibn al-Muhallab, a prominent military commander who lived in the late 7th century. He played a significant role in the Umayyad conquest of Central Asia and is mentioned in several historical texts from that era.
In the 10th century, Raed ibn Abi al-Muna, a renowned poet and scholar from Basra, Iraq, gained recognition for his literary works and contributions to Arabic literature. His poetry was widely celebrated and has been preserved in various anthologies.
During the 12th century, Raed al-Din al-Ghazi, a prominent military leader and ruler of the Artuqid dynasty, left a lasting impact on the region of modern-day Turkey and Syria. He is remembered for his victories against the Crusaders and his efforts to defend Muslim territories.
In more recent history, Raed Salah, a Palestinian political activist and former mayor of Umm al-Fahm in Israel, gained prominence for his advocacy for Palestinian rights and his role in the Islamic Movement in Israel.
Another notable figure was Raed Arafat, a Romanian physician and activist who founded the Mobile Emergency Service for Resuscitation and Extrication (SMURD), a highly respected emergency medical service in Romania. He was widely recognized for his humanitarian efforts and received numerous awards and honors.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who have borne the name Raed. The name continues to be popular in the Arab world and is often associated with strength, power, and eloquence.
People
Raed + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Raed 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
Raed: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Raed?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 445 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Raed 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 770,234 US residents.
Is Raed a common name?
We classify Raed as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 454 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Raed most popular?
The single biggest year for Raed was 2022, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Raed is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Raed in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,453 people with the name Raed, or 0.48 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,518 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 Raed 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 Raed?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Raed appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,459 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Raed?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Raed is White at 86.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.5%). 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 Raed most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Raed in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.9% (1,262 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 Raed in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Raed a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Raed 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 Raed still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Raed 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 Raed 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 Raed?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.